A reader recently suggested that the time has come to retire the term douchebag. We agree. It's been a dear friend, but it's time to find a new word to describe the people we despise.

Esteemed Editors,

as a massive fan of your site and longtime reader, i would like to
propose the recommendation of retiring the word douche this year. i
have been on board for a while now since the days of AJ and his
bottles and Veyner and his videos, and it definitely made for an
ubiquitously applicable term in our fine city.

However, I feel the word needs to be retired on two accounts:

1) it's been completely played out. the number of times i hear it now
applied to any circumstance other than what i believe to have been its
true intention is getting annoying. furthermore, i feel the douche's
themselves have co-opted the word and use it against hipsters and the
like. people who aren't particularly witty, or even funny, began throwing
around the word douche (in my opinion denigrating the original beauty
of what it represented). i think it'd be a great idea to take control of your
creation and have a very formal retirement for the word

2) i think the timing could be perfect right now with the recession.
the word was fantastic during the height of absurdity and arrogance of
the banker craze. i'm not sure as i'm not really involved in that
scene, but i cant imagine the whole bottle service / crazy spending is
going on right now. i feel the day of the original douche is probably
past and it'd be the perfect time to find the most annoying/absurd
personas of the times ahead (which will definitely be distinct).

anyways...just my two cents. i love the site and word and think it'd
be an amazing maneuver to not only have a formal retirement, but
control the "shitty new yorker narrative" for the next few years, once
again.

good luck,
PhDouche

Send an email to Gabriel Snyder, the author of this post, at gabriel@gawker.com.