A once
useful word that is now practically
bankrupt of
meaning. Think of how many times this word is employed when one feels obligated to fill the air with noise:
Case in point: I once worked for a large insurance company that underwent a far-reaching computer systems conversion. The new system, developed at the corporate offices to standardize regional business units, was called N.I.C.E. The nice system. How cute. How friendly. The most common question during the implementation was, "What does the name stand for? What does it mean?" Nobody knew. Finally the help desk would say "It doesn't mean anything. It's just the name."