Merrill Perlman
Nearly every month, more than a thousand "burgeonings" bloom in news articles across the land, referring to things just starting out, exploding, expanding, or otherwise getting bigger. The objection to "burgeon" has little to do with its definition; it has everything to do with its lack of use in everyday conversations. "Burgeon" is journalese, a word that people like to use in print even though their audience rarely says it aloud. It belongs with "decry," "mull," and other such words. The pot business in Colorado can be said to be "burgeoning" but Apple's iPhone business is better described as "growing" or "flourishing," because it's been around for a while