It seems like hardly a day goes by without someone on a TV news program describing something as a certain-number-of-pound Gorilla. I am so utterly sick of hearing about the "800 pound gorilla" on CNBC when someone is describing a particular company; and on CNN or FOX News, it seems I am hearing about the "1000 pound gorilla" of the elections race, and on and on. I do believe CNBC is the worst with this infatuation over gorilla metaphors, as nearly every guest and host has made reference to a variation of it. Is this what they teach reporters in Journalism school, or what corporate spokespersons are taught in business school? I would like to think not.
What has happened to English and our ability to describe something as being large, exceptionally large, large on a relative scale, and so on when we need to without using a phrase about a gorilla?? With so many well known objects of substantial proportion in the world, why has the gorilla been chosen as the popular one for comparative sizing discussions now? Is it because man has pushed it to near-extinction? Doubt it. Is it because our genetics have 99% in common? Doubt it. Fact is, I have not a single clue what the attraction to this terminology has its roots in. Whatever the basis, it has reached epidemic proportions lately.
Are we doomed to have this gorilla-phrasing become part of the accepted dialect here in the US (and abroad - I swear I have heard UK reporters and other use it to)!? Please, stop using this utterly lame metaphorical catastrophe that seems to have the entire media enamored at the moment.
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