Department of Pet Peeves

Like a typical Seinfeld episode, this is mostly a post about nothing. But humor me. Internet memes, especially those with the smell of studied cynicism, drive me crazy. The disease is particularly virulent among the writing class. The latest oh so clever phrase to go viral is: "I threw up a little in my mouth when I [read/saw/heard] that." Lovely imagery, huh? (Not to pick on him, but this author's use of it here was the tripwire that triggered my rant.) As we all know from life, regurgitation -- in any form -- isn't nice. The word "yuck" invariably leaps to mind when one contemplates the involuntary experience of blowing chunks. But literary references to upchucking a little in one's mouth is now de rigueur. The purveyors of this meme think they're building their H.L. Mencken street cred. In fact, they're swimming in the lamestream of Palinist babytalk. Mencken, who said, "man is a beautiful machine that works very badly," is no doubt spinning in his grave. Going to the heart of the matter, Nabokov once quipped that "nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity." Maybe that explains the presence of this latest garlic clove in the salad of writing.