Something has been bothering me a decent amount lately. It's the seeming lack of respect for certain words. The casual use of words that aren't casual at all. Here are some examples:
1. Awesome. I'm completely guilty of misusing this word as well; so don't call me hypocritical. I'm admitting my problem. :-) Anyway, the dictionary definition of awesome is "inspiring awe." So the question is, how many times do you use awesome to refer to something that actually does inspire awe in you? And how many times do you use it to refer to things that are just good, interesting, convenient, or nice? Is the count on the latter one much higher? It sure is for me. This isn't a terrible or life-threatening transgression; but it does somewhat annoy me. I think its because as a Christian I believe that God is Awesome. And it just seems wrong to so blatantly misuse a word that is a characteristic of God.
2. Rape. This is a HORRIBLE word that describes a HORRIBLE act. It's just straight up nasty. Yet in my experience as a gamer I see people using this word all the time with total casualness. They use it to talk about how they beat someone at a game, or how they killed some one's character or unit. It's used to talk about the act of defeating another person. Which when you think about the definition I guess the connotations are there; but its just such a horrid word that I really think we should make an effort to use something else in its place.
3. Love. This word and its foibles could take up a whole week of blog posts on its own. My mentioning it is brought on by a song I've heard a decent amount lately on KLRC that I think just really uses the wrong category of love. And yes there are lots of different categories of love; so yes it can be used in different ways. Just make sure you are using the correct one.
4. Irony. When talking to a friend about this post he brought up this word. People label a lot of non ironic things as ironic; probably simply because they don't know the real definition of the word. So here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY_amJ0YZrM
I'm sure there are tons of other words that are misused every day. The like five people who will read this can feel free to post their own thoughts on this issue.
So be careful what you say and what words you use to say it. Words have power, and with great power....well you know the rest. (And if you don't you don't pass the nerdiness requirement to be my friend ;-) )
Guilty as charged when it comes to be free and loose with the English language. XD
ReplyDeleteWith awesome, I think it's a case of the connotation of the word changing to the point where it doesn't really reflect its dictionary definition. I remember as a kid looking up "terrific" in the dictionary and being really surprised by its definition (to inspire terror). Sets a different tone on all those "Terrific Job!" you got on papers as a kid. ;)
I suppose I misuse "Rape" also. But mostly as "those guys Raped and Pillaged the salad bar". Or "that movie totally rapes the basic premise of the book." I admit, I use it as a colorful metaphor for laughs. I can't remember an instance were I used it in reference to an actual person.
Love is probably the most abused word in the English language. XD
Irony has pretty much fallen from my daily usage due to AP English and Fark.com.
But English is a living language, thus connotations of words and phrases will drift, reverse, and fall out of usage.