Banal – what an apt word! Such an apposite description
of our media in this day and age.
It is sadly neglected and under-utilised. I feel absloutely awesome (ugh!) that I have remembered the word .
It is a strange word which I shunned in my younger days as it made me feel queasy somehow. Probably because of the -anal sound. But in fact its not ‘bay nal’,- it is pronounced ‘buh narl’, much more reflective and condemnatory sounding.
Synonyms are: bland, corny, dumb, hackneyed, mundane, stupid, trite, vapid, blah, bromidic, clichéd, cornball, cornfed, dull as dishwater, everyday, flat, ho-hum, hokey, insipid, noplace, nothing, nowhere, old hat, pabulum, pedestrian, platitudinous, square, stale, stereotyped,
stock, tired, tripe, unimaginative, unoriginal, watery, wishy washy, zero
What a glorious all encompassing word!
My mother used ‘common’ quite often, which sounded and was snobbish. Despite the frequent temptation, it would not be acceptable in Australia to use such a term, as there is a perverse pride in the humble and often delinquent origins, predominantly working class and frequently criminal, expelled from or fleeing the then First World.
But back to buh narl. I must admit that it is going to make me appreciate the news so much more now that I can keep the reports in context. I can also forgive Adele for her banal apology for breaking someone’s heart – I mean if you do such a terrible thing, the word ‘apologise’ is likely to drive the poor wounded person into a manic rage! Oh I say, I must apologise: I don’t love you any more, I have found someone else – dashed awkward, what!
What a pleasing and quintessentially bon mot!
sillysocksonfriday 