The never ending battle against hyperbole
03-12-2019, 04:03 PM
#11
Registered User
I swear I come across hyperbole a million times a day. 
I read an article on a local site in which a "Mummy blogger" posted about how she was devastated by...the slightly altered flavor of a local licorice. Someone had also responded that their life was ruined by it. Maybe I'll buy up all that licorice and use it to achieve world domination, it sounds like quite the weapon.
I read an article on a local site in which a "Mummy blogger" posted about how she was devastated by...the slightly altered flavor of a local licorice. Someone had also responded that their life was ruined by it. Maybe I'll buy up all that licorice and use it to achieve world domination, it sounds like quite the weapon.
03-12-2019, 04:14 PM
#12
eBay's, "L@@K!, L@@K!, L@@K!!!!!!!!!"
03-12-2019, 05:16 PM
#13
Language changes over time, as does word usage. Thus "Good Job" is just another way of saying "Thanks for doing what I asked". And to children it means only that. Telling the waiter that the appetizer was "awesome" only says "I liked that appetizer. It was good". And that's the message which is received by the person who has heard the appetizer described as "awesome" many times.
But keep fighting the good fight against dilution of adjectives and for the preservation of English in more or less its current form. I applaud your Herculean efforts to stave off the vicious onslaught of attacks that erode the magnificent English spoken word.
Seriously, though, I agree with your point. I wonder if this trend is unique to English or if it is happening in other languages. Commerce being what it is (and I blame advertising at least in part), I expect the problem is widespread.
But keep fighting the good fight against dilution of adjectives and for the preservation of English in more or less its current form. I applaud your Herculean efforts to stave off the vicious onslaught of attacks that erode the magnificent English spoken word.
Seriously, though, I agree with your point. I wonder if this trend is unique to English or if it is happening in other languages. Commerce being what it is (and I blame advertising at least in part), I expect the problem is widespread.
03-12-2019, 06:01 PM
#14
Thread Starter
Language changes over time, as does word usage. Thus "Good Job" is just another way of saying "Thanks for doing what I asked". And to children it means only that. Telling the waiter that the appetizer was "awesome" only says "I liked that appetizer. It was good". And that's the message which is received by the person who has heard the appetizer described as "awesome" many times.
But keep fighting the good fight against dilution of adjectives and for the preservation of English in more or less its current form. I applaud your Herculean efforts to stave off the vicious onslaught of attacks that erode the magnificent English spoken word.
Seriously, though, I agree with your point. I wonder if this trend is unique to English or if it is happening in other languages. Commerce being what it is (and I blame advertising at least in part), I expect the problem is widespread.
But keep fighting the good fight against dilution of adjectives and for the preservation of English in more or less its current form. I applaud your Herculean efforts to stave off the vicious onslaught of attacks that erode the magnificent English spoken word.
Seriously, though, I agree with your point. I wonder if this trend is unique to English or if it is happening in other languages. Commerce being what it is (and I blame advertising at least in part), I expect the problem is widespread.
03-12-2019, 06:03 PM
#15
03-12-2019, 06:22 PM
#16
Thread Starter
03-12-2019, 08:35 PM
#17
Damn right. I still say "that's cool" and both young and old still get it. I may not talk their talk but that's ok as well. I really think it is commercial ads and reporters, both written and verbal, that beat to death the words Bill is worrying about. Thankfully, I fastforward thru almost all of them, so its ok.
03-12-2019, 10:39 PM
#18
Rad post, Bill! Like totally, to the max!
03-13-2019, 05:39 AM
#19
Thread Starter
Here is the incontestable assessment of your posts:
Sue and Tachus, spot on. AWESOME posts. (all caps means "very good.")
Dave, Kids saying "cool" was an adoption by the young of a meaning created by the American Jazz culture. It was both creative and a departure from the actual meaning of the original word. At worst, the second meaning might cause confusion (the water at the beach is cool). But this has nothing to do with adults applying words of extreme to characterize events or things slightly better or worse than mundane. Kids didn't dilute these words. It all started with adults. Your position on giving kids exaggerated encouragement is pretty much the reason the problem was created and won't be solved. It now spans at least two generations. While I agree with most of your comments on the media, I don't think everyone has the same reaction as you when they read and hear these words in the news. They were once reserved for "yellow" journalists. Now they are commonplace in the mainstream media. And I see more people acting "outraged" over issues of less importance.
Mike, yeah, sorry, but I don't see any support for your opinion-presented-as-fact that people only "hear" what is actually meant. Nor do I see any basis for your "new word" prognostication. This has been going on for decades now. Where are the new words?
Hertz, good example.
Windhund, that just seems like advertising.
Patty, yup. People used to be creative.
Sue and Tachus, spot on. AWESOME posts. (all caps means "very good.")
Dave, Kids saying "cool" was an adoption by the young of a meaning created by the American Jazz culture. It was both creative and a departure from the actual meaning of the original word. At worst, the second meaning might cause confusion (the water at the beach is cool). But this has nothing to do with adults applying words of extreme to characterize events or things slightly better or worse than mundane. Kids didn't dilute these words. It all started with adults. Your position on giving kids exaggerated encouragement is pretty much the reason the problem was created and won't be solved. It now spans at least two generations. While I agree with most of your comments on the media, I don't think everyone has the same reaction as you when they read and hear these words in the news. They were once reserved for "yellow" journalists. Now they are commonplace in the mainstream media. And I see more people acting "outraged" over issues of less importance.
Mike, yeah, sorry, but I don't see any support for your opinion-presented-as-fact that people only "hear" what is actually meant. Nor do I see any basis for your "new word" prognostication. This has been going on for decades now. Where are the new words?
Hertz, good example.
Windhund, that just seems like advertising.
Patty, yup. People used to be creative.
03-13-2019, 05:56 AM
#20
Bill you are an awesome person with excellent writing skills. You could be a lawyer or something if you applied yourself....