We don’t have any relationship counselors. And hoping we never do!

I still recall calling customer support for some utility company and being asked to hold for “relationship counselor.” No shit. You can imagine the conversation that ensued when I finally got one.

“Welcome to insert company name here. We used to make widgets. Actually we still do. And nothing else. But now we are a complete customer lifestyle solutions company.”

My challenge for today is to use “copacetic” in an official correspondence.

“Proactive” used to be a technical term of art in psychology with a very narrow meaning. But one day some damn fool decided it must be the laudable opposite of “reactive.”

You used to say someone took the initiative or, possibly, preempted. Indeed, for many common uses of “proactive”, the simpler and infinitely more legitimate word “active” really captures the meaning, but now this ugly word “proactive” is everywhere, and it always has a positive connotation.

Neologism is great; where would we be without “ecdysiast” or “copacetic”? But “proactive” is a word that should never have been born.