The next time you want to compliment something, think about whether or not you actually mean what you say. Save the superlative words for times that actually deserve them.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Reclamation of Words
When was the last time you said, "That was the coolest thing ever," but didn't mean it? When was the last time you said something was exciting, beautiful, inspirational, or genius, when you actually meant to convey much less than superlative?
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3 comments:
The last time I said something was "fucking awesome" was about an hour ago at the decemberists concert.
OK. That's a totally legitimate use of "fucking awesome."
I don't know. I agree with the sentiment, but I don't think that you can compel people at large to do this.
And the reason common superlatives come to mind readily is because they're...used commonly. They're no longer intended to make an unequivocal statement; to do that requires an extra bit of effort to emphasize your seriousness. That's why you have to grasp for words like 'magnificent' and 'sensational', but it also guarantees that the positive adjectives that you don't hear and don't think about will continue to be superlative.
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