If you’re a political and media junkie, you know one truth: your head starts to spin after a while — even more than the political spinners you see every day on MSNBC, Fox News and CNN — due to obnoxious, trite and overused phrases that have invaded our culture. Here’s an updated list of some phrases as welcome as chalk scraping on a blackboard.

1) “False equivalence.” — When employed by political partisans, “false equivalence” usually means there is a VALID equivalence, since in American politics you always defend your own political sports team and insist only the other side is guilty. Then there is political jiu-jitsu “false equivalence” on display recently on Twitter, where someone insisted it was not a false equivalence to say Vice President Joe Biden’s “chains” remark was the same as Missouri Rep. Tim Akin’s controversial assertion about “legitimate rape.” When you hear the phrase “false equivalence,” it usually comes from a partisan in defense mode.

2) “A defining moment.” — Says who? Some self-important analyst, political reporter, ideological blogger? How does this supposedly wise person, who can tell us now how this will define someone’s life or history, know it is a “defining moment?” Do they have a crystal ball? Most people who think they have crystal balls are as accurate in their predictions as Fox News’ Dick Morris. The only analyst with a crystal ball that seemingly works is the University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato. And he doesn’t hurl the phrase “defining moment” around.

3) “Tried to change the subject...” — That means a politician dared to try to talk about something other than what a politician, political pundit, or journalist considered to be the true story of the day. Could it be that politicians may prioritize differently than reporters and pundits, and they’re trying to talk about something that may be of greater substance than the latest skunk spraying contest raging between two parties or candidates? Can’t we multi-task? He who says “tried to change the subject” often arrogantly thinks he alone can determine “the subject.”