A few years ago, I went off on the misuse of the word “surreal” by athletes. It’s one of those Crabby Old Editor things. Most athletes don’t know surrealism from the Man in the Moon. What they mean is “unreal”.

And here is another horribly overworked word, these past years:

“Icon” … and it’s adjectival sense, “iconic”.

Words now used so recklessly they have been cheapened … and have wandered far afield of what they originally meant.

In what otherwise would have struck me a very nice bit of news — Vin Scully plans to come back for the 2015 Dodgers season (“God willing.”) — it was marred by Dodgers PR people using both forms of the I word.

To wit:

The press release couldn’t go a dozen words without its first use of the I word. And that counts the dateline.

“LOS ANGELES — Hall of Fame broadcaster, an icon in American sports history …”

Four paragraphs later, the synonym-challenged author(s) came back to the adjectival use of the I word. “Iconic moments called by Scully include …”

Geez.

Let’s go to the dictionary.

The Oxford dictionary, the bedrock of British English, lists the first definition as follows.

“1. A devotional painting of Christ or another holy figure, typically executed on wood and used ceremonially in the Byzantine and other Eastern churches.”

Well, we like Vinny, and think he’s special … but a “holy figure”? Not quite.

So, the second definition.

“2. A person or thing regarded as a represtative symbol or as worthy of veneration. this iron-jawed icon of American manhood.”

And then we get the third, the most modern.

“3. Computing. A symbol or graphic representation on a screen of a program, option or window.”

So, clearly, we are looking at the second, for Vinny and those moments he called of such historical magnitude.

“Worthy of veneration”?

Merriam-Webster to go with an American dictionary, defines “veneration” as “respect or awe inspired by the dignity, wisdom, dedication or talent of a person.”

Do we respect him? Sure we do. But we respect lots of people. Does he inspire awe? A pretty powerful word. IN most cases, I’d say, no, not “awe” — especially if you’ve met him. A regular guy, a good guy, devoted to his work …

And I am confident Vinny would never say that he feels as if he inspires awe.

The bigger problem with icon and iconic, beyond their religious origins, is how they are overused. We get press releases about a luxury car or an expensive watch, and they inevitably are “iconic”. Anyone who has been around a few years becomes an “icon”. Which is premature in 99 percent of cases.

It’s just sloppy. With the usage of “icon” meant to connote some sort of “big brain” aptitude by the writers — when I’d bet most of them have no idea what the original “icon” was — the religious painting. And also are not sharp enough to know a cliche when they are wielding it.

Anyway, we see “icon” anywhere in The National, we kill it dead. Define … delete.

The word has been worked to death by little minds and bad writers. We choose not to tax it any further in the pages of The National.