Fads

I wonder how fads start. Does someone prominent do or say something that other people want to imitate in a desire to be like them? I think business types are particularly prone to this. One day some keynote speaker says something silly, like referring to hard facts as "granular" ("We really want to get something granular on this before we go ahead."), then the next thing you know, Joe or Jane is trying it out at the next office meeting. ("We should try to get something granular on this, boss.") and off we go. Think about it: "From the get-go", "optics", "proactive" all seemed to come out of nowhere.

This isn't restricted to the office by any means. Have you noticed how many people are showing as many teeth as possible when they talk? Sometimes I feel like a dentist, I'm looking at so many pearly whites. I don't know which came first, the marketing of tooth-whitening products or the desire to show off newly-whitened teeth. There's a news reader here in the local market I could swear is trying to send message in Morse code with the flashes of his teeth, except that no-one understands Morse code anymore. I can only hope this fad is short-lived.