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The Center Center

or, if you prefer,

The Centre Centre

by Peter Donnelly

Have you noticed how many places have become "centers" (or "centres")? Not only does every second shop and dentist's office call itself Fred's Carpet Center or Central Dental Center, but it is virtually guaranteed that any large new public edifice, whether it be a basketball court or a live theatre, will be named the [Corporate Sponsor] Center.

This nasty, bland little word is threatening to drive to extinction a host of English words that have a lot more colour and meaning.

Perhaps it is because everyone wants to be seen as being at the center, not at the periphery. Perhaps it's because we don't want to define things too narrowly, so we choose the vaguest possible word. In some cases (like "Correctional Center" and "Canadian Firearms Center") it is pure euphemism.

Whatever the reasons behind the phenomenon, it deserves its own Web page, so here it is. The following is a list of some of the words and phrases being driven out of the language by that one-size-fits-all word. I haven't made any of these up -- I've seen at least one example of each.

Bureau, desk, officeCenter(e.g. complaint center, claims center)
Arena, Gardens, etc.(Sports) Center(e.g. Montreal Forum replaced by Molson Center)
AsylumMental health center
BankBanking center(so called by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce)
Blood bankBlood center
Boarding kennelsBoarding center
Body shopCollision center
Box officeTicket center
BrokerageInvestor center
Building, Tower, etc.Center
ChurchWorship center
ClinicHealth center(also Dental center, Eye center, etc.)
ClubFriendship center
Command post, headquartersCommand and control center
Concert hall, opera house, theatrePerforming arts center
ConsultancyDelivery center
Court HouseJudicial Center
Data bankData center
Depot, stationTransit center
Emergency shelterEmergency center
ExhibitAppreciation center(Henry Moore Appreciation Center at Art Gallery of Ontario)
Experimental station, laboratoryResearch center
GardenHorticulture center(see also Nursery)
GymnasiumFitness center
Hardware store, lumberyardHome center
HospitalMedical center
Jail, reform schoolDetention center(see also Prison)
ListCenter(Favorites Center in some versions of Internet Explorer)
LodgeCenter(e.g. Masonic Center)
MailboxMessage center
Meeting hallConvention center
MemorialMemorial center(Oklahoma City National Memorial Center -- thankfully renamed Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum)
MosqueIslamic center
Multimedia computerMedia center
MuseumInterpretive center
NewsstandNews center
NurseryGarden center(see also Garden)
Nursing homeCare center
OvenBaking center(at Subway sandwich shops)
PharmacyMedicine center
PlanetariumSpace center; Center of the Universe
Playground, party roomPlay center
PlayroomActivity center
Polling placeVoting center
PoolAquatic center
Pool hallBilliards center
PreschoolEarly childhood center
Printing plantPress center(e.g. Toronto Star)
PrisonCorrectional center(see also Jail)
Rack, ShelfCenter(displays in stores called Battery Center, etc.)
Recruiting stationArmed Forces Career Center(U.S.)
RegionCenter(Coastal Fire Centre -- a region of British Columbia demarcated for purposes of controlling wildfires)
RegistryCenter(Canadian Firearms Center)
Retreat houseCenter for spirituality
Rental officeWelcome center
RinkIce center
SawbenchCutting center(at Home Depot stores)
SchoolLearning center
Shop, StoreCenter
Sledding trackSliding center(Olympics venue at Whistler)
Soup kitchenMeal center
StudioBroadcast center(CBC Broadcast Center)
Travel agencyTravel center
Used-car lotPre-owned center
WarehouseDistribution center
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