Sorry for what may be a misleading headline. This post is not the most epic, amazing, etc. one ever; but do you notice how so many people are casually attaching those words to any blog post?
A search for “epic blog posts” or “kick-ass blog posts” or “[insert hyperbole here] blog posts” pulls up millions of hits. You can read “How to write epic blog posts” and “How your blog posts can kick ass.” There are “Secrets to writing killer blog posts” and “How to write totally awesome blog posts.”
To those people, I say stop it. You’re exaggerating, and you know it.
I don’t care how well-written a blog post is. It’s unlikely to be truly amazing (“causing great surprise; overwhelming”), all-star (“a player chosen as among the finest in the league”), awesome (“inspiring awe; marvellous”), epic (“grand; heroic; impressive in scope”), incredible (“that cannot be believed; amazing; extraordinary”), kick-ass (“forceful, aggressive, domineering; impressive, powerful”) or killer (“impressive, formidable, excellent”).
If the post is that great (“considerably above normal or average; important; worthy of consideration”), let the readers say so.
What do you think? Are you getting tired of all the exaggeration too?
Related reading:
I had a similar beef with the way real estate agents carry on in Is anything ‘stunning’ when everything is?
Image: Wow by digitalart and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
Yes, Sue, it’s pretty tiring. I call it adjective inflation – what was once good is now awesome, or what was memorable is now mind-boggling. It rarely is any of those things. It’s all part of the effort, I presume, to stand out in a crowded field. I’ve now gotten to the point where if the adjective appears too inflated to be true, it probably is and so I don’t even bother to read the blog or other piece of content.
Awesome, Sue! 😉
I blame Upworthy, with its ridiculous link-baiting headlines.
And can we please kiss “kickass” goodby? Let’s stick a fork in it; it’s done.
Roger, I agree it probably stems from the effort to stand out, and Donna, Upworthy can certainly take much of the blame! I never was a fan of “kickass” anyway. Thank you both for your epic comments. 🙂
I agree with it’s probably an effort to stand out, but to me, I often think they’re overcompensating to cover up what is often run-of-the-mill – or substandard – content. Sort of virtually blowing smoke up my virtual ass.
Ha, well if not substandard, certainly not the “epic” content promised in many headlines!