Amazing! Fabulous! Awesome!

[PrettySquareGal]

It seems that the only positive adjectives people use online these days are "amazing," "fabulous," and "awesome" although "awesome" has given way to "amazing" it seems.

Do people no longer have a basic grasp of a diversity of descriptors, or do they truly thing that a twitter update or a pair of shoes are "amazing?"

"Fabulous" seems reserved mostly for things involving the "over forty" set, animal print outfits, Chico's clothing, etc. "Forty and Fabulous!" "Over Fifty and Fabulous!"

With these terms so watered down they become meaningless.

Do you agree?

 

[Captain Lex]

I haven't been around for long, but something old movies and books seem to imply--especially those aimed at youth--is that most people have never had a very versatile vocabulary. It's difficult to make that conclusion from art like that, of course, because the vocabulary of those creative types is going to be necessarily more varied than the average Joe. But such things that deal heavily with vernacular--Mark Twain, Jim Steinbeck, JD Salinger--reveal the relatively rigid vocabulary most people had and have.

I'm definitely guilty of overuse of amazing and awesome, however.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I can't *stand* "awesome!" when used by anyone over the age of fifteen. "Fabulous" to me implies something like a line of fifty chorus girls doing a high-kick on top of a fifty-foot high revolving neon wedding cake, not a middle-aged woman going down to buy a carton of Kools in leopard-skin yoga pants. And "Amazing" brings to mind the image of a second-rate stage magician with a clip-on moustache and a cardboard top hat.

There were overused superlatives in the Era -- people used to snicker at movie trailers that promised that every upcoming production was SPECTACULAR -- COLOSSAL -- STUPENDOUS, and if they used such terms in their own conversation they were being sarcastic. But I don't get the sense that when people use Fabumazinawsome today, they're being in any way sarcastic -- they're the only words they seem to know. Except for Cool. And Dood.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I can't *stand* "awesome!" when used by anyone over the age of fifteen. "Fabulous" to me implies something like a line of fifty chorus girls doing a high-kick on top of a fifty-foot high revolving neon wedding cake, not a middle-aged woman going down to buy a carton of Kools in leopard-skin yoga pants. And "Amazing" brings to mind the image of a second-rate stage magician with a clip-on moustache and a cardboard top hat.

There were overused superlatives in the Era -- people used to snicker at movie trailers that promised that every upcoming production was SPECTACULAR -- COLOSSAL -- STUPENDOUS, and if they used such terms in their own conversation they were being sarcastic. But I don't get the sense that when people use Fabumazinawsome today, they're being in any way sarcastic -- they're the only words they seem to know. Except for Cool. And Dood.

You know, you're right about "amazing" and birthday party magicians! Also, side shows.

I think, though, that unlike in the past when superlatives (that's the word I was looking for, thanks) were overused, just with different words, that those things were a lot closer to "amazing" et al than today. The things that people find lofty these days astonishes me.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I haven't been around for long, but something old movies and books seem to imply--especially those aimed at youth--is that most people have never had a very versatile vocabulary. It's difficult to make that conclusion from art like that, of course, because the vocabulary of those creative types is going to be necessarily more varied than the average Joe. But such things that deal heavily with vernacular--Mark Twain, Jim Steinbeck, JD Salinger--reveal the relatively rigid vocabulary most people had and have.

I'm definitely guilty of overuse of amazing and awesome, however.

True, but I wonder if versatility in the ability to experience life has become diminished since so much of it is now reduced to pixels, tweets and texting. It becomes easier to be amazed by very little.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Jack Paar used to tell a joke in the fifties about teenagers overusing the word "cool". One of them told him, we use cool the way your generation used hot. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Popular words get hacky after a while. That's why we used to keep changing them. Hot gave way to cool, which gave way to groovy, which gave way to cool, which is still around after all these years. I guess the younger generation really are idiots.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Jack Paar used to tell a joke in the fifties about teenagers overusing the word "cool". One of them told him, we use cool the way your generation used hot. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Popular words get hacky after a while. That's why we used to keep changing them. Hot gave way to cool, which gave way to groovy, which gave way to cool, which is still around after all these years. I guess the younger generation really are idiots.

It's not just the younger generations. I see it across the board...

 

[Stanley Doble]

Does anyone remember "super" and "sucks". In the seventies I knew people who seemed to have only those 2 categories. Everything was either super or it sucked.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think I object more to the overuse of cool as a concept than its overuse as a word. At least there's no pretentious social cult built around the idea of something being "nifty-galifty."

We used to get our faces slapped -- hard -- for using the word "suck" in any context not involving a straw. I had no idea why until I was in high school.

 

[Mrs. Merl]

Pray tell, what words would you suggest to expand the populations ability to express themselves?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm partial to "ducky" myself.

 

[dhermann1]

Paralleling the American explosion of "awesome", the Brits overused (and still overuse) the word "brilliant". Enough, already.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Pray tell, what words would you suggest to expand the populations ability to express themselves?

I would prefer actual descriptors to one word quantifiers. If something is truly fabulous, awesome or amazing I think it's worthy of a sentence or two. For example, instead of "omg it was so amazing" I'd like to know what about it specifically was amazing? If it's a person, what about them do you like? If it's an art show, what about the art makes it special? If it's an outfit, describe it and how it's flattering.

And then, there are thousands of words from which to choose to do that.

 

[Captain Lex]

I tend to overuse words in waves of about three weeks--and it drops into normal usage if it takes, or disappears entirely if it does not. I've been saying "rad" and "radical" a lot these past few days--it's even been bothering me. Last time that happened, "Rad-tastic" joined my normal vocabulary, but only at a usage frequency such a word might deserve.

 

[Miss Golightly]

I see "amazeballs" is the latest way to describe something awe-inspiringly good - can't say I will ever use this expression myself - it sounds a little ridiculous (or is that ridic?).....

 

[Stanley Doble]

Pray tell, what words would you suggest to expand the populations ability to express themselves?

There are thousands of words in the dictionary. It's easy to be lazy and use the same few words over and over. I think even the uneducated know more than 3 or 4 different adjective and adverbs.

 

[Mrs. Merl]

Wasn't suggesting any kind of negativity, in case that was miscunstrued. As a person accused regularly of using words nobody understands, I was just curious, what other words one would find more appropriate, exciting, and expressive. I guess I am the sort of person that appreciates when someone has a criticism of something, that they also have a preference, remedy, etc. of some sort.

 

[magnolia76]

I'm so glad we move on from certain words. "Phat" was huge in the 90's, and though I was not around in the 70's, I giggle when I hear movies of the era use "far out" and "that girl is out of sight!" by the way, I almost just spelled that like "site." Child of the millennium.

 

[John in Covina]

neat.

 

[John in Covina]

I'm so glad we move on from certain words. "Phat" was huge in the 90's, and though I was not around in the 70's, I giggle when I hear movies of the era use "far out" and "that girl is out of sight!" by the way, I almost just spelled that like "site." Child of the millennium.

I still can't figure out what was meant by people responding with "word!"