Impressive soccer goals, entertaining concerts and the latest flavor of Cheetos are all awesome. Acrobatic sports and video games are extreme. Until recently, Keith Olbermann nightly reported on the “Worst Person in the World.” Currently, the American trend toward hyperbole in the English language seems an extreme sport in itself. Hyperbole, when well crafted, adds layers of meaning and effect. For example, hyperbole in folk tales creates humor and friendly metaphor. Hyperbole in poetry inspires passion and new perspective. But overuse of hyperbole is not crafted, inspiring or meaningful.
Linguists who study the origin and evolution of language (yes, there is a field for that) debate whether the impetus for language was the need to communicate or the need to organize thought. For example, were the first spoken words the result of a desperate evolutionary need to express, “Would you please hand me that stick?” Or was language developed in the mind because man’s ability to perceive information began to outweigh his brain’s ability to store pictures? Stated differently, were the first words spoken, not in an effort to communicate, but because man needed to consider: “Where did this stick come from? How can I make sure I always have plenty of sticks?” Regardless of the origins of human language, today individuals and societies at large depend on words for the purposes of both the orderly processing of thought and for communicating with others. Disturbingly though, developing patterns of speech in American culture are leading away from both clarity of communication and organization of thought.
Common use of hyperbolic words and disproportionate metaphor obfuscate our understanding of history, and the present. Ultimately constant exaggeration hinders our ability to address the future. If any leader with an aggressive political will is described as Hitler, how do Americans understand the Holocaust with the true sense of horror that it deserves? If every girl who leaves out a third-wheel friend is a bully, how do we recognize the vile impulses that ended the life of Matthew Shepard? What words are left for the American to discover his humility and his gratitude for his tiny place in a magnificent, complicated and inexplicable world if even Sprinkles cupcakes are awesome?
ask them. i do. when someone describes anyone who is strict as a nazi (grammar nazi, style nazi, etc.), i ask them if they killed more than nine million people, including six million jews between correcting punctuation or fashion faux pas.
ReplyDeletesure, it's irritating, but a little reminder is okay. oh, and it's fun to do.