How ‘iconic’ became anything but

Though I love words, I don’t generally get on other people’s cases about them as I don’t expect everyone to have my almost parasexual attachment to the English language. I’ve suffered silently through the flagrant misuse of ‘epic’ and ‘awesome‘ and numerous moronic reference to food as ‘orgasmic’ and ‘artisanal’ featuring ‘curated table-scapes’. If you’re older than five and say ‘nom’ (in any multiple) then frankly, I believe that you should have your voting rights taken away – it’s called Universal Adult Franchise for a reason.

However, I’m going to make an exception for ‘iconic’, the overuse of which has mildly irritated me for quite some time. I reached tipping point last week when I heard the Mayor of Leicester, Peter Soulsby, use it on Radio 4, referring to Ugandan Asian immigration to Britain in the 1970s. This was a good thing, yes – but iconic?

How I yearn for the days when iconic was a niche word, used only to describe religious artwork.