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The unprecedented use of the term unprecedented in the current crisis is terrifying

with one comment

‘An unprecedented crisis‘ said Hank Paulson. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13590.html

‘American economy is facing unprecedented challenges‘ added a concerned George W. Bush http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425261,00.html

“The Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson, will be granted unprecedented authority in the financial bailout plan” http://www.lockergnome.com/forsythe/2008/09/29/unprecedented-authority-granted-to-henry-paulson/

In a series of moves culminating overnight, Washington took an unprecedented step into the financial sector in a bid to steady an ailing housing market and ease a global credit crunch, analysts said. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24310593-20142,00.html

Tuesday, Paulson is spearheading an unprecedented global change as the Bush administration point man for the proposed $700 billion bailout of the U.S. financial industry as the economy reels from the credit crisis sparked by the national real estate slump and spiraling mortgage failure rates. http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-09-22-paulson-treasury_N.htm

But the $700bn (€480bn, £380bn) bail-out marks an unprecedented test of both the Democratic and Republican leadership in Congress, who are seeking to pass a proposal that they know will be unpopular among voters in an important election year and is opposed for ideological reasons by factions within both political parties. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2c86b58a-89a4-11dd-8371-0000779fd18c.html

Bush: ‘unprecedented challenges‘ call for ‘unprecedented actionhttp://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpposted/archive/2008/09/19/bush-unprecedented-challenges-call-for-unprecedented-action.aspx

Why terrifying?
Because after all these exciting ‘unprecedented firsts‘ everything will be ‘precedented seconds’ or, in other words, bland.

Meanwhile, while things are still interesting, have you placed your bets on September Madness?

Written by assafl

September 30th, 2008 at 4:58 pm

One Response to 'The unprecedented use of the term unprecedented in the current crisis is terrifying'

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  1. Unprecedented. what a great word. I expect that the marketeers will start using this word more often.
    Just like “Total” and “Redefining”.

    Somehow related post, showing how reusing terms leads to erosion of the term’s value. http://blog.imperva.com/2008/08/can-we-learn-from-mcafees-late.html

    Sharon

    30 Sep 08 at 11:00 pm

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