We walk the walk but do we talk the talk?

[Zombie_61]

...Language evolves, yes. But it should never de-evolve.

I concur, but it's not up to me. Language evolves depending upon it's usage--if enough people misuse a word for a long enough period of time, that word's misuse becomes acceptable. Case in point: "irregardless". So many nitwits used that word for so long that it is now considered to be a nonstandard form of the word "regardless". [huh]

 

[Stanley Doble]

How about "terrific". In Lincoln's day if you said a girl was "terrific" her brother or father would be after you with a horse whip.

 

[Zombie_61]

How about "terrific". In Lincoln's day if you said a girl was "terrific" her brother or father would be after you with a horse whip.

Good example, in a similar vein to the way the words "bad", "wicked", and "sick" have come to mean "good" (depending upon the context) in recent years.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Wicked" has always been used in New England as an intensifier -- if something is "wicked good," it's extremely high quality. The use of the word as an exclamation on its own is a barbarous MTV innovation.

 

[Sefton]

"Wicked" has always been used in New England as an intensifier -- if something is "wicked good," it's extremely high quality. The use of the word as an exclamation on its own is a barbarous MTV innovation.

Haha, right, I remember that! I moved from California to Boston in the mid 80s and "wicked" was a favorite of all the "townies".

 

[Foxer55]

Zombie,

I concur, but it's not up to me. Language evolves depending upon it's usage--if enough people misuse a word for a long enough period of time, that word's misuse becomes acceptable. Case in point: "irregardless". So many nitwits used that word for so long that it is now considered to be a nonstandard form of the word "regardless".

Something that cracks me up is the use of the word "quantum" for major changes in you FioS service, the size of your computer, or new government programs. Its obvious people using this word don't understand it was put into use in the late 1800s by people like Helmholtz and Planck to describe, theoretically, minimal amounts of radiation and energy, sort of molecular particle level physics which is as small as you can get and still know it. Today, however, its use is to describe vast sizes and measures.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Good example, in a similar vein to the way the words "bad", "wicked", and "sick" have come to mean "good" (depending upon the context) in recent years.

I remember about 20 years ago being out in Sydney one night with a group of friends. My girlfriend at the time had a cool old 1961 EK Holden (Australian GM) in deep coral pink. A bunch of young blokes wandered past as we were heading back to it and told her she had a "sick car." A bunch of us had them up against the wall about to heave into them for insulting her when one of our group said he thought they might be actually complimenting the car, to which the poor schmucks readily agreed that they were, indeed, offering a compliment! We just couldn't understand why they said 'sick' or how that could be taken as praise in any way.

Within a year, every second boofhead with a skateboard/baggy shorts/cap on back to front was wandering around mouthing the phrases 'sick' or 'fully sick' at anything they remotely liked.