The “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness” is the idea of Lake Superior University and is compiled of nominations from around the world. “Amazing” topped 2012’s list of 12 words or phrases primarily because of overuse on reality television and by daytime talk show hosts. Others making the list were “ginormous”, “baby bump”, “man cave”, “shared sacrifice”, “the new normal” and “thank you in advance”. The list was started by the university’s PR department on New Year’s Day 1976 and has gotten “wordier” over the past 37 years.
There are also new ideas for hotels. At Stockholm’s Arianda Airport you can stay in a Boeing 747. It has 25 four-person, dormitory-style rooms and the cockpit contains a double-bed, luxury suite. In Ottensheim, Austria and Bottrop-Ebel, Germany you can stay at a Das Park Hotel. The rooms are giant, concrete drainpipes - complete with double beds and electricity. At the Crane Hotel in Harlingen, Netherlands 2 people can stay dockside with luxury accommodations in a shipping crane. The included breakfast is delivered by an internal lift. I suppose the new looks of these hotels could qualify them as “ho-ho-hotels”.
Even the Federal Aviation Administration had a good idea. On December 21, 2011 it issued new rules to prevent pilot fatigue. Scheduled duty was limited to 9-14 hours, depending on the time of the pilot’s first flight and the number of time zones crossed. Scheduled flying time was limited to 8-9 hours, with pilots flying at night having fewer flying hours. Also pilots have a minimum of 10 hours rest between duties. Although passenger carriers have 2 years to make the changes, the new rules don’t apply to cargo carriers. The FAA determined it would be too costly – which seems “plane foolish”.
In closing, maybe paper towels weren’t a good idea. In a Canadian study published in the American Journal of Infection Control, 6 towel brands commercially sold in Canada were all contaminated. However, towels made of recycled paper were the most contaminated, having bacteria concentrations 100-1,000 times higher. Recycled paper contains binding ingredients like starches and fillers, which can serve as food. Contaminated machinery in paper mills can also cause contamination. Of the 17 bacterial species found, the most common was Bacillus, which has been linked to food poisoning. Although no illness has yet been attributed to paper towels, researchers continue their “paperwork”.
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