No more "awesome" in the new year

From dictionary.com

In recent years, the words cool, neat, and great have been replaced. The new king of the hill these days is awesome. I hate that. Because, truth be told, very few things in life are truly awesome. Overusing that word diminishes its meaning.
  • Your burger is awesome? No, afraid not. Want to know what's really awesome? The Grand Canyon.
  • Think your friend meeting you for drinks is awesome. Nope. Try the Sistine Chapel
  • Sorry, your new jacket isn't awesome. But, you know what is? The universe. 
As a lover of words, I don't readily embrace slang. And, yes, I know saying "awesome" when you don't have to wait in line at the market is perfectly acceptable these days. But that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Think about it. Awesome means something that inspires awe. Is getting a parking place near the front of the mall really awe inspiring? I just don't think it is. However, the pyramids in Egypt are. So is Stonehenge.

The next time you think something is impressive or exciting. Why not say it's impressive or exciting? Believe it or not, not everything is awesome. But the things that are? Wow, they're pretty incredible.

4 comments:

  1. Oh, man, I am so with you on this. Awesome has become a worthless cliche, and doesn't mean what it really should. In fact your three bullets were words right out of my mouth.

    Now if we could add "rockstar" and "suck" to the list, I would be a happy camper.

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  2. Oh, man. I'm with you on those two. And don't even get me started on "sick." Thanks so much for stopping by, Bob!

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  3. I'd like to add other phrases to bad such as "going forward" and replace it with basic English such as "from now on". It seems that people have an inability of speaking plain english these days or as my Mother always says "they are trying let us know how intelligent they are by using big words". I love the UK's Plain English Campaign website and their Golden Bull Winners of 2012 show some examples of gobbledegook at its best/worst!! http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/awards/golden-bull-awards/golden-bull-winners-2012.html

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  4. Yikes! Oh, boy! Those make my head hurt.



    I'm so with you on the gobbledegook. I fight against Frankenspeak nearly every day. For some reason, businesses think it makes them seem professional, when all it does is make them seem out of touch.



    Thanks for chiming in, Steven. Always enjoy your take on things.

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