Words Lose Power

Enough already with the icons.

   All icons are images, but not all images are iconic.
   Originally, an icon was a sacred image, with enormous sacred meaning and power. With more widespread use, however, the power of the word was degraded, and the term was used to refer to any important image.
   The more widespread the use, however, the less power the word carried. Now, "iconic" is used to lend importance to nearly anything. If something is at all familiar, it becomes "iconic."
   The problem is that overuse of any word diminishes its importance, and eventually, an overused and often misused word loses any meaning at all.
   A familiar photograph becomes "iconic." A popular automobile becomes "iconic." A  well-known motorcycle brand becomes "iconic." Even the White House is referred to as "an iconic building."
   Important, yes. Well known, yes. Even popular, yes. But sacred? Hardly.
   Journalists and TV commentators far too often hear a word or phrase and are impressed with its appropriateness and strength. Unfortunately, through repetition ad nauseam, when they pick up and reuse the term every day and in nearly every setting, the word loses what power it may have had.
  So it is with iconic. Get thee to a thesaurus.