Word of the year

If you think that Taylor Swift is a close friend, and that you will probably be throwing rice at her and Travis Kelce when they come a-stepping down the aisle, congratulations to you!

Not that Taylor could pick you out of a police lineup (although she might have to try to one day) and not that you should run down to Ann Taylor Loft to pick out a getup for the wedding, but at least you are now part of of the Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year!

The winner this year is "Parasocial," defined as "a relationship felt by someone between themselves and a famous person they do not know."

Because Taylor writes such marvelously touching lyrics that most everyone can relate to, and because her fella, Big Trav, is such a plain old downhome easy-going guy, it's easy to relate to them and figure, hey, they're just like me and my significant other, so let's just say we're friends.

Travis talks things over with Coach Andy Reid

Even more amazing, there is a trend in which people are becoming close to bots on their phones and share deep emotions with cyber creatures.

This didn't just start the other day.  As far back as 1956, American sociologists noticed that television watchers were involving themselves in "para-social" relationships with people on TV. 

TV was fairly new in 1956, and movies had been around for a lot longer. But you didn't see women walking around (outside of asylums) under the notion that Clark Gable or Jimmy Stewart was their boyfriend, or men certain that Dorothy Lamour was the pot of gold at the end of their delusional rainbow.

Back then, we had to put on pants, leave the house, and go to a theater to see the stars. TV came along, and we can dream our sweet dreams of love with a total stranger. Back then, it was Ricky Nelson or Clint Eastwood, right there in the house on a flickering 11" screen.

So, let's stay real. People on television or singing on stages or running with footballs are professionals paid to entertain us. Along with riches beyond measure, luxurious lives, and public acclaim, they get to marry people like Travis Kelce.

I always say, nothing is ever perfect.