Unnecessary Drama

Daily writing prompt

If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?

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Probably devastated. Is someone really broken beyond recovery or repair? Is life as they’ve known it over because a favorite athlete or musical artist decides to retire or move in a different direction, or they stopped carrying someone’s favorite ice cream at the grocery store?

Even if the circumstances are more legitimately serious, are people truly ruined to the point of having to start over? Sometimes yes, but more often, it seems, they’re just engaging in hyperbole, or at a loss for a more fitting word.

This word is used so blithely so often that when it actually fits a situation, it loses its punch.

A close second might be traumatized.