Here's a little
article that doesn't have to much to do with Geri, but I thought
it was kinda cool :) so read on...
A Phrase of the day that won't
go away
By César G. Soriano
USA TODAY
At the end of the day,
it's the cliche to say.
From impeachement trial
pundits to sports moguls to Spice Girls fans, "at the end
of the day" is the fad phrase getting more than it's 15
minutes.
The British buzzwords
have all but replaced "when it's all said and done"
or "in the end."
Go on, say it. "At
the end of the day" makes you sound cool,educated. It makes
you sound like someone trying to sound cool and educated.
Never mind that William
Safire declared the metaphor dead last year in his New York Times
column, "On Language."
Never mind that the British
say it's old and tired. American's can't get enough.
"At the end of the
day, this isn't a charity," San Diego Padres owner John
Moores said recently of his team.
" 'At the end of
the day' is very big," says CNN talk host Larry King. "I
ask what's going to happen with the impeachement and two of the
five guests will say it." Trend-loving Madonna uttered the
phrase twice Monday night on Larry King Live.
Sample: "At the
end of the day, it's hard for anybody, famour or not, to be in
a relationship."
The Guinness Book of
Curious Phrases says it "is now almost exclusively used
in its metaphorical meaning" as opposed to a literal time
reference like "at the end of the day, I got to sleep."
The 20-volume Oxford
English Dictionary refers to the circa-1974 saying as "a
hackneyed phrase." Jargon: Uses & Abuses says: "It
sounds wearily wise and sagaciously long-sightedm but at the
end of the day it doesn't mean a great deal. Politicians are
fond of it."
If fad phrases had a
spokesmodel, former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell would turn these
letters. She utters the six words in every interview she gives.
Sample: "At the
end of the day, we're just entertainers."
Not surprisingly, the
phrase has been picked up by her fans. "It's her signature
phrase and a running joke with us fans," says Rhonda Meister
of Huston, who built a Web site called . . . at the end of the
day. "It's become popular among young people. It's kind
of the 'in' thing to be a little more Europen and anything London
is HOT."
Its origin is a topic
of lexicographical debate.
"Briticisms are
coming to American English in large numbers and have been doing
so for some while," says John Algeo, a linguist who is writing
a book on the subject.
"In some cases,
Americans allude to British phrases, names or spellings when
they are trying to pick up on some air of class or sophistication,"
says Frank Abate, editor of Oxford's U.S. dictionaries.
Or maybe to sound royal:
"At the end of the day, I want my eptaph to say: A Loyal,
Dedicated Mother and Friend," writes Sarah, Duchess of York,
in her new diet bool.
But a the end of the
day, it's just another cliche that's all been said and done.