Uncommon Commentary #359: "Popular Culture"? How's That for an Oxymoron?

Detrimental effects of the hyperbolic Journalese (which is not one of the coinages alled "domanisms") that has become almost ubiquitous in the USA are by no means restricted to the English language.  Persons who are materially fortunate (but perhaps spiritually unfortunate) enough to be celebrities of popular culture generally have egos of a size to match their status; calling them "superstars", "icons", or "legends" only exacerbates the problem.