Look, I’m going to say this once – I’m sick of hearing politicians, pundits, preachers, and people everywhere prefacing every other sentence with “Look.”
It all began when Barack Obama was campaigning for the presidency two years ago. Back then, he regularly began every other sentence by saying, “Look.” He probably thought it made him sound authoritarian and smart.
Instead, it sounded condescending. Irritating. Superior.
When somebody begins a sentence with “Look,” it makes them sound like a pissed off father saying, “Look, if I want any shit out of you, I’ll squeeze your head.”
Or…“Look, loser, get your ass out of bed and get to work.”
Or a bartender saying, “Look, pal, you’ve had enough.”
OK, maybe I’m projecting here.
I envision a gangster telling a shopkeeper, “Look, youse, if I want your opinion I’ll beat it out of you.”
You get the idea.
Fortunately, Obama curtailed his use of the word “Look.” But my greatest fear has come true. During the campaign, I feared others would copy his verbal tic or subconsciously acquire it.
And that is exactly what happened.
Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs was on NBC this morning, sprinkling “Look” all over his claptrap. Pundit Bill O’Reilly came on afterward. Same thing. “Look” this and “look” that.
I hear it everywhere. I hate it.
Watch a political news program with politicians debating various topics, and take a shot of tequila every time somebody prefaces a sentence with “Look.”
Within 30 minutes you’ll be drunker than a Kennedy on St. Paddy’s Day.
