Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that bands don't split up any more, marriages don't fall apart, nothing collapses? - everything IMPLODES! It's just ridiculous the way this word is now getting used in the media.
And now it's not good enough to be the centre of anything, it has to be the EPICENTRE. [e.g. Soho is the epicentre of vice in London] Idiots seem to hear the word misused by another idiot and think it sounds clever - sort of scientific - so they decide to use the word too.
I'm sure I never used to hear these words so often a couple of years ago. My Chambers dictionary (1998) unfortunately does not support me on epicentre, but says it can be used 'figuratively'. How can you figuratively describe something as being that point on the earth's surface directly over the point of origin of an earthquake? The 1972 Chambers did not admit a figurative use.
Obviously, I invite support and offer the opportunity for others to get off their chest whatever vogue word might be bugging them.