Speaking Gooder English

Webster's, the people famous for their dictionaries, recently released a list of words that they felt were either over-used or too often misinterpreted or simply leading to the 'death of the English language' and as a person who strives to use proper grammar (though not in a snobbish sort of way) I am inclined to agree with the folks at Webster's. For example, the winner of the "Most Cheapened, Cherished Word" was the word 'awesome'. According to the Webster's people, the word was originally used to describe something that was beyond description in either size or ideology. Now it's simply an adjective that can describe the warmth provided by a pair of gym socks.

Perhaps that's a bit extreme but if you think about it, you'll see how overused the word has become in modern society. Another case is the "Worst Unnecessary Lead-In"; which is a way of prefacing something you're going to say. The winner in this category is the expression, 'I mean'. Think about that as well, how many times have you had a conversation with someone that has begun with the expression at the front of it. Doesn't it go without say that you mean what you say? If you didn't mean it, would you actually be saying it? Perhaps or perhaps not but it isn't necessary to preface every single statement with such an expression. Similarly, the most irksome euphemism that was declared to be the term 'issue' which has become the catch-all phrase for anything that is of concern or problematic. Go into any meeting these days and you walk out with a list of issues. There were times in the past where if you'd walked out saying that you have issues, someone may think you're attempting to sell magazine subscriptions.

The English language has long been an evolutionary thing and while it seems that the Webster's people are making honest attempts to keep their dictionaries up to date with inclusion of slang or terms that are part of the popular culture, by bastardizing the English language in this way, are we doing the language a service or disservice. Every country in the world has colloqiualisms or expressions that are unique to that country. Take for example England and America. Although the language of these two countries should be relatively similar given that the country was founded predominantly by English settlers, you'd think that similarities still existed. In some cases they do but take for instance the aforementioned expression 'awesome'. An English speaker in England probably wouldn't say awesome to describe their feelings of excitement over something 'cool' but rather they'd probably respond with an excited 'brilliant'.

In both cases, the other expressions that we Americans and the British use to describe something that could fall into the category of being 'awesome' are also incorrect associations that have changed with time. 'Cool' is often used to describe something that is found to be quite enjoyable. It no longer has a direct linkage to the temperature, at least not in most cases. It has also changed into something of a term to declare positive acceptance of a decision. I was sitting in a meeting earlier when our manager asked whether work had been completed on a particular task as requested. The team lead responded that it had so the manager's reaction was 'cool'. Even the British aren't much better. Their use of the term brilliant has nothing to do with the intelligence or even the brightness (in a lighting sense) of the thing being referred to. Where in the course of human history did these expressions gain a foothold that was completely different from their original meaning?

The English language certainly needs to adapt but there are times when I shudder and cringe at some of the new words being bandied about by some very big people. Words such as 'ginormous' (an amalgamation of 'gigantic' and 'enormous') are making an inroads and though these words have never existed before, they are being accepted as actual words. They aren't. They shouldn't be. Made up words or neologisms are fine if they serve a purpose but I think the English language is diverse enough to have sufficient expressions that encompass describing most anything in the world today. We don't need to do 'gooder' or add '-er' to the end of the word to make it a descriptive phrase or describe how someone is as some people attempt to do. By doing so it screams of a lack of knowledge of the English language and a disregard for what proper grammar is.