THE OVERUSED AND ABUSED
In previous essays, I have expounded on the severe overuse of expressions, but the same is true for many individual words.
Traditionally, one could be disgusted, indignant, and perhaps even shocked, but these days, one only seems able to manage to be “appalled.” That has become the annoying catch-word for whenever anyone is annoyed.
They put a celebrity in jail; people are appalled. They let a celebrity out of jail; people are appalled. They tear down a rain forest; people are appalled. I put up a patriotic fence; people are appalled.
Can’t the masses relearn how to be aggravated, dismayed, or irritated? What’s the big deal with “appalled,” anyway??? Must I be appalled at the severe overuse of “appalled???”
Some years ago, everything was “awesome.” The poor word was done to death. This gave me particular grief because it is such a lovely, powerful expression of inspiration. I was still teaching at the time, and kids were especially guilty of “awesome” abuse. I recall that one day, when I had finally had enough of it, I told a class, “A gorgeous sunset is awesome. A Beethoven symphony is awesome. Trust me, your new sneakers are not awesome.” To my joy and relief, this brought an understanding, acknowledging laugh from the class. I added, “If you insist on using a million-dollar-word in a ten-cent context, what will you do when you really need to express a million-dollar-concept?” I could see that my students genuinely thought about that. Now, I’m asking all of my readers to truly think about word overuse and abuse.
