CFAH

While it’s barely half over, we’re already calling “stunning” the most overused word for listings in San Francisco in the first quarter of 2011. Or more accurately, we’re calling it the most misused word in terms of the properties to which it’s rather liberally being attached.
On deck, references to the America’s Cup.
The Scope Of Development For San Francisco’s First America’s Cup [SocketSite]

Comments from Plugged-In Readers

  1. Posted by A.T.

    It’s an appropriate adjective for this market’s offerings. We’ve seen some stunning price declines the last couple of months (at least I suspect the sellers feel as if they’ve been hit on the head).

  2. Posted by Joe Zekas

    It’s a pretty amazing coincidence that you’re posting this the day after the same meme was floated in Chicago.
    http://yochicago.com/overused-realtor-words-%e2%80%93-stunning-elegant/19981/

  3. Posted by sfrenegade

    What about “luxury”?
    “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

  4. Posted by sparky-b

    sweet one renegade.

  5. Posted by Q

    My favorite superlative is “premium.” Historically (before marketing people butchered the word) “premium” meant that you paid more for something. Premium only meant “good” if you think spending more money was”good” (which, for appearance’s sake, some people did).

  6. Posted by sfrenegade

    Q makes a good point. My buddy has a car with a “premium service schedule,” which basically involves doing a lot of unnecessary service and paying the dealer a lot of money for it. I’m sure that they sucker a lot of chumps into paying for it because the dealer or its service reps will add: “you bought a luxury car and now need to pay for luxury car service.”

  7. Posted by diemos

    My favorite marketing term is “artisanal” which, as far as I can tell, translates into English as “wildly overpriced for what you get”.

  8. Posted by A.T.

    diemos, that reminds me of a newscast I saw in France a couple of summers ago, reporting on an I.E.D. explosion in Iraq and referring to the device as an “explosif artisanal.”

  9. Posted by anon.ed

    I try to avoid that word for that reason. But they really don’t need cues, dude.

  10. Posted by Paul Hwang

    nice one renegade. Also “Penthouse” when the building is 3 stories tall and in a sketch spot.

  11. Posted by EH

    “Carrera marble.”

  12. Posted by Jimmy (No Longer Bitter)

    Ok, for the first and last time “Carrera Panamericana”: a famous car race in Mexico. “Carrara”: a city in Tuscany known for its marble quarries.

  13. Posted by EH

    Jimmy: yes, the spelling is the joke. 🙂
    In other news: Angelo Mozilo skates.

Comments are closed.

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