“It’s a must read!!”……I find myself using this phrase often when I pass along a great article or column that I enjoy. In fact, it has become my “go to” comment to use on Twitter and Facebook probably because I can shorten it to read, “A MUST read!!” followed by the link (note the overuse of exclamation marks for emphasis).
Is it though? Is it a “must” read? More likely it is a “maybe” read or, a “probably, you should take a look at” read, but for some reason I use “It’s a MUST read”.
I also use the words: Amazing, Love, Perfection so often that I am not even sure of what they mean any longer. A photo becomes, “amazing” and I seem to “love” so many things that are “perfection”. I have taken the leap from normal or mediocre to spectacular and as a result have no clue how to express something that truly IS amazing.
Louis C.K. has a comedy bit where he discusses the fact that we “waste” words and that we use words like “awesome” and “wonderful” like they are candy. We waste words and then somehow the meaning becomes diluted.
It has something to do with perspective.
Getting a seat by yourself on an airplane is “nice”, but the fact that you are sipping a hot cup of coffee at 30,000 feet is “amazing”.
Why do we waste words? Laziness?
I love my children. I can’t describe what the feeling is, but it definitely is so big that it can only be described as love. Can I really use that same word to describe the last movie I watched?
Not long ago I put a call out to my Facebook friends to help me replenish my stock of adjectives because frankly, I have used everything up. I am left with no real way to describe how I am honestly feeling/reacting.
This is what I posted, “Currrently recruiting for NEW ADJECTIVES for my vocabulary! If you or someone close to you has a supply of new or lesser-used (but still appropriate) adjectives that I could add to my vocabulary, I would really appreciate it. I am willing to trade some dangling modifiers and double negatives. You see…..lately I have been dispensing words like “amazing” and “awesome” quite haphazardly without giving proper thought to how I might describe something that actually IS amazing or awesome and now I have become quite short of words to use. Please let me know if you can assist me in this endeavour. Sincerely: Judy”
Of course my friends responded en masse and provided some new words that I can use. One friend helped me clarify that what I realllllly needed was to re-examine my use of superlatives. She said, “Some superlatives have been used sarcastically too often to come across as genuine when written.”
I agree.
I also overuse exclamation marks.
Basically……I need to back this truck up and get back to basics.
You see….my daughter is getting married in September and I need to have some words on hand to use to adequately describe the event.
I am sure on that warm, autumn day, she will be “beautiful”, but then again….I think she is always beautiful. Perhaps on her wedding day, she will be:
Mind-numbingly beautiful?
Perfection personified?
Awe-inspiring?
If I use any lesser words will it somehow diminish how mind-numbingly, awe-inspiringly perfect that she is?
Somehow, “lovely” doesn’t stack up and honestly…..it should be the most perfect word to use on that day. Unfortunately, I have wasted the word “lovely” on a summer day last year when I took a drive to Swan Lake for a picnic. I remember distinctly saying that the sunset was “lovely”. Surely my daughter on her wedding day will be more lovely than a random summer sunset?
Oh.Dear. What am I going to do?
(I wrote this originally in July of 2014 – since that date, Amy did indeed get married and we can all agree that words cannot adequately describe how beautiful she was (and is) that day)
JUDY KUCHARUK 