I’ve found I have this bad habit of latching onto words and phrases and then overusing them. There are times when I feel like the “ascertain” guy from Kids in the Hall. Now, I’m not that bad, but I certainly do catch myself saying something I feel like I’m saying way too much — typically right after I’ve said it.

I noticed this yesterday when I was writing a document and caught myself typing “not dissimilar” instead of just, simply, “similar”. I recognize there are cases where “not dissimilar” is a good fit, but in this case it was simply me being wordy when I didn’t need to be. It’s just that “not dissimilar” is a phrase that my brain tasted some time ago and thought, “Yes. I like this. I will use this often.” And I have a few phrases or words that fit that description.

This was brought back to my mind this morning when I had the TV on while getting ready for work this morning, and heard the weather guy find a myriad different ways to say the same thing over and over, yet the phrases he chose and used end up being the same ones he uses every day. It reminded me of being back in college radio. Someone at the station (sorry, I don’t remember who) pointed out how a radio DJ is the only person you’ll hear give the time as so many minutes “in front of” an hour. Think about it — it’s not uncommon* to hear a DJ say something like that, but you’ll never hear a schmoe on the street say it. Sure, part of it is an attempt to sound cool or something like that, but I’m sure most of it is driven by a desire to not say the same thing over and over. So instead of “It’s ten minutes to five,” what you’ll hear is “it’s ten minutes in front of five o’clock.”

The thing is, in my observations, it’s what I’d hear all the time. So instead of saying something outside the norm, you create a new norm.

[Cue Doogie Howser epilogue music.]

And so it goes with me. By trying to choose unique or different ways of saying things (because I’m all about changing it up) I wind up creating new ruts. Maybe we all do. Or, more likely, maybe I’m just an idiot.

(* ooh, another double negative.)