The Center Center

or, if you prefer,

The Centre Centre

Have you noticed how many places have become “centers” (or “centres”)? Not only does every second shop and clinic 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 color 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.

Association, organization, group, league	Center	(e.g. Centre for Immigration Policy Reform, “a not-for-profit national organization of citizens”)
Bureau, desk, office	Center	(e.g. complaint center, claims center)
Arena, Gardens, etc.	(Sports) Center	(e.g. Montreal Forum replaced by [Current Sponsor] Center)
Asylum	Mental health center
Bank	Banking center	(so called by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce)
Blood bank	Blood center
Boarding kennels	Boarding center
Body shop	Collision center
Bowling alley	Bowling center
Box office	Ticket center
Brokerage	Investor center
Building, Tower, etc.	Center
Casino	Gaming center
Church	Worship center
Clinic	Health center	(also Dental center, Eye center, etc.)
Club	Friendship center
Command post, headquarters	Command and control center
Concert hall, opera house, theatre	Performing arts center
Consultancy	Delivery center
Court House	Judicial Center
Data bank	Data center
Database	Information center	(E.g. Canadian Police Information Center)
Depot, station	Transit center
Drunk tank	Sobering center
Emergency shelter	Emergency center
Exhibit	Appreciation center	(Henry Moore Appreciation Center at Art Gallery of Ontario; renamed Henry Moore Sculpture Center)
Experimental station, laboratory	Research center
Garden	Horticulture center	(see also Nursery)
Gymnasium	Fitness center
Hardware store, lumberyard	Home center
Hospital	Medical center
Jail	Detention center	(see also Prison, Reform school)
List	Center	(Favorites Center in some versions of Internet Explorer)
Lodge	Center	(e.g. Masonic Center)
Mailbox	Message center
Meeting hall	Convention center
Memorial	Memorial center	(Oklahoma City National Memorial Center—thankfully renamed Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum)
Mosque	Islamic center
Multimedia computer	Media center
Museum	Interpretive center
Newsstand	News center
Nursery	Garden center	(see also Garden)
Nursing home	Care center
Optical dispensary	Vision center
Oven	Baking center	(at Subway sandwich shops)
Pharmacy	Medicine center
Planetarium	Space center; Center of the Universe
Playground, party room	Play center
Playroom	Activity center
Polling place	Voting center
Pool	Aquatic center
Pool hall	Billiards center
Power plant	Energy center	(Portlands Energy Center in Toronto)
Preschool	Early childhood center
Printing plant	Press center	(e.g. Toronto Star)
Prison	Correctional center	(see also Jail)
Rack, Shelf	Center	(displays in stores called Battery Center, etc.)
Recruiting station	Armed Forces Career Center	(U.S.)
Reform school	Youth center
Region	Center	(Coastal Fire Centre—a region of British Columbia demarcated for purposes of controlling wildfires)
Registry	Center	(Canadian Firearms Center, now called Canadian Firearms Program)
Retreat house	Center for spirituality
Rental office	Welcome center
Rink	Ice center
Sales office	Discovery center	(For a townhouse development, though it took some research to discover the meaning of the sign. Other “Discovery centers” are museums, kindergartens, public relations offices, etc.)
Sawbench	Cutting center	(at Home Depot stores)
School	Learning center
Shop, Store	Center
Sledding track	Sliding center	(Olympics venue at Whistler)
Soup kitchen	Meal center
Studio	Broadcast center	(CBC Broadcast Center)
System application	Action center	(In Windows 7; note also various Control Panel applications called Centers.)
Terminal	Flight center	(E.g. seaplane terminal in Vancouver Harbour.)
Travel agency	Travel center
Used-car lot	Pre-owned center
Vending machines	Refreshment center
Warehouse	Distribution center