Looking for some help from alert and witty readers. Remember that Bob Newhart drinking game you used to play back in college? Where you had to drink every time someone said “Hi Bob” and by the third set of commercials you were already making plans to drop your 8 a.m. Tuesday-Thursday classes? For a few years, some colleagues on the schools beat here in NYC have offered fun, yet obnoxiously overused phrases from the schools world for a similar effort.
So, whenever someone says “best practices,” we all have to drink. (I think Elizabeth Hays at the Daily News offered that one.) Same with “pedagogue,” which I think came from WNBC-TV’s Carol Ann Riddell, and most will agree is a word that gives you the heebie-jeebies. For me, whenever I hear the phrase “capacity building,” I get thirsty as all hell.
I’d love to round this out with a solid-list of about 20 phrases from the Praxis of Evil that would make game-players giddy nationwide. Got one for the list? Send all ideas to eduwonkguest@yahoo.com. I’ll prepare a list of the best entries by the end of the week.
Joe