Standout
For some reason I bristle about certain language matters. Perhaps I am a pedant but the evolution of English expression does not always please me. One compressed word that gets my goat is "standout" . It is often used carelessly by radio and TV presenters in relation to sporting achievement. For example:- "Smith was the standout performer for England against Wales." & "The standout team at the tournament has been Japan." It might also be used in relation to stage performances - as in:- "For me the standout out show in The West End right now is 'Crazy for You' ". I hate "standout" . Google has a facility called the N-Viewer which is able to track the frequency of word use in printed books over the past two hundred years. Whereas the word "prudence" continues to decline, the word "television" continues to rise. This graph shows the rising incidence of "standout":- It is thought to ...