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Overuse takes away some awe
(by Barbara Christian - October 20, 2010)
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Overuse takes away some awe
Can we please stop using the word "awesome"? It's supposed to describe the extraordinary, but it's become so ordinary that it's the verbal equivalent of kudzu.
"Awesome" is defined as "causing wonder and astonishment" and should be reserved for the things that are wondrous and astonishing, like the birth of a baby, the northern lights or the Democratic Party keeping the majority in the House and Senate after Nov. 2.
Aren't we all tired of hearing everything described as "awesome," when few things really are?
For instance, "awesome" is not the proper response when a friend tells you he's just had a physical and the doctor said his prostate is fine. Fully loaded hot dogs may be yummy, but they can never "awesome."
You don't hear older people use the word very much, if at all. We are still working on eliminating "groovy" from our vocabulary.
"Awesome" has a certain surfer dude quality to it, descriptive of riding a riptide to shore. I don't know if it's possible to ride a riptide anywhere, but, if one were to do so, it may be more foolish than awesome.
In hopes of offering a word to replace this overused one, I turned to the thesaurus. Instead of a boatload of synonyms, there was but one: "Marvelous."
Can't you just hear that surfer dude coming out of the water and describing his ride as "marvelous"? Conclusion: Surfer dudes are allowed to say "awesome."
But I digress. To find out more about this overused lazy man's adjective, I did what every modern person does to learn the truth. I Googled the word. There were 182 million references! That's not just a word; it's a phenomenon.
Alas, it is possible for phenomenons to get old and tiresome quickly. LeBron James was a phenomenon, and look how fast we grew tired of him. Or maybe it was the other way around. Whatever. LeBron James is no longer awesome in Cleveland. He can be awesome in Miami and will no doubt be awesome to his fans in his new city. Here he is just called "mud."
Next I typed the word "awesome" in the Urban Dictionary and smiled when the first reference came back with this definition: "Something Americans use to describe everything." Ha! I told you!
Another Internet site told us "awesome" appears 34 times in the Bible, but you will have to verify that yourself. It is the Internet, after all.
Other sources noted that the root of the word, "awe," from the Germanic. It was used to describe fear or terror, first appeared in modern English in 1598 and more recently was muddled by the great wordsmith George W. Bush, who said the invasion of Iraq would bring "shock and awe." But again, better check that out with your friendly neighborhood etymologist.
Meanwhile, www.lexicalist.com tells us that "awesome" is used equally by American men and women on average of once every 1,995 words. That has to be a low-ball number. It's more like every 10th word for most people under 50.
So what's the bottom line? A call to action. Let's think before uttering "awesome." Is what we are describing truly awe inspiring? Perhaps in time we can stop using the word altogether. Now that would be, well, you know.
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