Because I have a “passion” for poking fun.
An old piece of writing lore says that Mark Twain once claimed that the word ‘very’ was unnecessary in most writing. He apparently said the following:
Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.
Unfortunately, this seems to be purely lore, and apparently Twain put it in writing. Rather, it was a newspaper editor named William Allen White who gave the advice.
But you don’t really care about all that, do you? I understand. You came here for the ‘boner’ that I promised in the title — and I shall deliver.
The Rules of the Game
So here are the simple rules. Please don’t break them if you choose to respond below, or tweet along, so that this piece stays classy.
- Find an article, bio, or headline that prominently features the word ‘passion’.
- For each occurrence of the word ‘passion’, substitute the word ‘boner’.
- Either text or a modified screenshot is fine.
- Omit as much identifying information as possible (author, company name, etc.) out of respect. The exception would be public figures with celebrity status — because dealing with this kind of jib-jab is part of their job description. Also, they’ll probably never see it anyway.
Here are a few examples to get you rolling:
You get the gist. Have a little fun, but be respectful. The aim is to point out one thing: just like the word ‘very’, the word ‘passion’ has been used almost to death. Consider this the stake in its passionate heart.