Archive for February, 2007
Can we now relegate the word awesome to the trash heap of misused and abused words? Does [tag]awesome[/tag] even mean anything, or is it like a basic grunt or groan–just a sound to register your mere presence?
Frankly, I’m tired of hearing it.
"Hey, [tag]dude[/tag], Iran just developed a nuclear bomb and destroyed Israel?"
"Awesome!"
As you can see from this hypothetical but eerily prescient conversation that the word has managed to desensitive people to things around them. If everything is awesome, then there’s nothing ever wrong or bad. Maybe we can retire dude while we’re at it.
Awesome!
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No, this is not a variation of Bill Clinton’s question about the meaning of is. Rather, it’s a response to the Academy Awards and its bestowing of an Oscar on Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth.
Now, that film’s subject matter is global warming, which despite media reports and Gorian proclamations has scientists divided. Those who want to cash in on the global warming hysteria seem to say it’s been proven; other scientists say there is no conclusive proof whatsoever.
However, this hasn’t stopped either Gore or the United Nations (or for that matter, the media in general)Â from proclaiming that there can be no more scientific debate.Â
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So far, I’ve been unsuccessful in finding any Web sites that detail or discuss words that have been imported into everyday English usage that originated in [tag]rap lyrics[/tag], so I’m opening this for discussion.
If you know of any such words, phrases, grunts or groans, please use the commentary function on this posting to let us know. (Dirty words are okay, so long as they’re now in the employ of some segment of English-speaking society and are not ethnically or racially offensive, an don’t worry–I do moderate all submissions.)
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One of the overlooked aspects in oral English usage is the accompanying body language. I probably shouldn’t say “overlooked” but “undiscussed” or “unstudied.” Sometimes it’s as much how we say something as what we say that gets communicated, so not only should we work on improving our English usage but our body language as well.
Easier said than done, right?
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No, this is not a new category for my blog, but rather a common phenomenon in English. Two words can sound completely alike, and if we don’t use them frequently enough, we can confuse the two while writing.
Case in point:
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