Word: vapidness
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Chinese students should follow suit. Chinese are not "fair game" for racial jokes just because other racial groups have protested; racist humor is unacceptable on all fronts. The objection that all this is in good fun is as vapid here as it was in the case of the Lampoon. Where racism is present, nothing is ever in "good fun." A theatrical production should not stoop to such a low level just to elicit a nervous laugh or two. Elizabeth T. Partridge...
...confused, boring in with a point of view, then halting to let the scene develop. It races past a row of Westwood parking meters trying vainly to create tension, and hacks its way through a Gere/Hutton sex sequence. In one nice touch, though, the Gigolo voices have a stupid, vapid sound, a style of speech learned on the Venice boardwalk or a Malibu sundeck. But Schrader couldn't resist a Mozart organ opus as accompaniment for a mellow-dramatic finale...
...list of current English scourges. Among them: "ballpark figure," "pre-boarding-how can you board a plane before you board it?" and "no problem." Even insult has lost its point: "I couldn't care less" has degenerated to the meaningless "I could care less." Greetings are equally vapid: telephone operators now routinely use '80s-babble, chirping, "Have a nice day," the moral equivalent of the smile button. Kramer vs. Kramer is advertised as a film that is "absolutely today." Nouns continue to be overrun by the jargonaut: the New York Times demands stronger sourcing, meetings are preambled, situations...