Semantics Rant, As Promised

Last month I was complaining about how the word "unique" is the most misused word in the English language. I've been waiting for an example in the media to seize upon and rant about, but the right moment hasn't presented itself. I'll have to go with something said during a football telecast, which I acknowledge is a tainted source for parsing the English language.

At any rate, Al Michael's or some such person was praising Peyton Manning's touchdown pass record of 49, and gushed about what a unique achievement it was. While it may be "technically" true that Manning is unique as the only holder of the record at this particular moment, that doesn't really make him unique. If, for instance, Peyton Manning was the only person to ever throw a touchdown in the history of the game (like Refrigerator Perry was the only player ever to pick up a running back and carry him into the endzone), than THAT would be unique.

I hope this has helped, though it wasn't as cathartic as I might have hoped.