Murdered Words

I’ve noticed a lot of words have pretty much lost all meaning lately and a couple of them are driving me up the wall. One in particular has gotten so out of control that I’m not sure it’s fixable.

Amazing.

Or, now often pronounced amaaaaazing.

This seems to be an epidemic among female speakers especially.

“This coffee is amazing.”

“Wow, your painting is amazing.”

“This new toothpaste is amazing.”

“The way you blink is amazing.”

“These birds singing in the morning are amaaaaaaazing.”

No they aren’t. Not only is the word used incorrectly, but in gross repetition. You can’t avoid it.

I think this and other word fads seem to stem from Hollywood actress types who find pet terms and it trickles down from there.

Other words on my list:

Empowered – You are not empowered by learning to knit.

Organic – Try listening to a DVD commentary sometime. You’d think this word had 30 different uses.

Journey – Going to the local Radio Shack is not a journey.

Surreal – Whatever you’re thinking, it probably isn’t surreal.

Genius – Ugh. Is everyone a genius now?

Not to say men aren’t guilty of this. The sports world alone has probably killed hundreds of words alone. That is a whole different amaaaazing post though.