Michael F. Duggan
To one degree or another, all wordsmiths are curmudgeons about usage. I will leave it to others to say whether or not I qualify as a wordsmith, but I certainly have opinions on the use of words. There are people who can discourse at length about why the Webster’s International Dictionary 2nd ed. is superior to subsequent editions (it is), why the Elements of Style is “The Bible” (it is), or why they rely on The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual. More generally, everybody who writes or reads has favorite and least favorite words and preferred/least preferred usage. Likewise, some of us have words and usages that are fine in some contexts but insufferable in others.
There are pretentious neologisms, self-consciously trendy or generational hangnails of usage, unnecessarily technical social science or other academic jargon that has crept into the public discourse (and don’t get me started about hacks like Derrida and Heidegger), and the overuse and therefore the tweaking of existing words. Below is a partial list of words and phrases that appeal to me in a similar sense as fingernails drawn down a dry chalkboard. This posting is written in a tone of faux smugness/priggishness and is not intended to be mean, so don’t take it to heart if you have ever used or otherwise run afoul of any of the offending terms. Below that is a slightly hysterical grouse I wrote a year or two ago about the recent appropriation of the word “hipster.”
Enjoy (if that’s the right word).
- All you need to know about… Click bait for people who want to know the bullet points of conventional wisdom on a popular or topical issue.
- Bad Ass. A term once reserved for outlaw bikers, rogue athletes, some convicts, gang members, other criminal and quasi-criminal types, as well as tough guy soldiers, sailors, and marines. Today it is a marginally hip compliment used to describe or encourage someone modestly able to assert himself/herself or whose delicate ego could use a boost. When used as an adjective, it is a more self-dramatizing, mildly profane version of “cool” (see below).
- Begs the question. This is a term correctly used in logic and forensics to describe an argument or reply that avoids addressing or answering the issue at hand. Today you will likely hear it on the news meaning something like “frames,” “poses,” “suggests,” or “implies the question…” as in the statement: “The result of today’s election begs the question of whether the nation is suffering from mass psychosis or merely a bizarre cult-like phenomena.”
- Bucket List. A list of things to cross off in order to know that it is time to die.
- Cool. First used around the time of the First World War, this is a ubiquitous, burned out synonym for “good” or “desirable” in a context of pop culture conformity. A common term of reverse snobbery indicating approval and therefore social acceptance among “cool” people (including, presumably, the speaker bequeathing approval/acceptance) that is mostly identical to the post-1990s use of the world “hip” (see rant below). Like “hip,” it was once a rebellions alternative to more conventional terms of approval like “good.” Unless I am describing to a day below 60 degrees, soup that has sat around too long, or a certain kind of modern jazz, I am attempting—mostly unsuccessfully—to wean myself off of this insipid, reflexive word. It is still preferable (and more durable) than the comically dated groovy.
- DMV. Slick Madison Avenuesque abbreviation for the “District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia” region. I associate it with the “Department of Motor Vehicles.” If I ever become hip (modern usage) enough to voluntarily use this term without derision, I hope to be struck by a big Damned Motor Vehicle immediately thereafter. Not actually used by people from the greater Washington, D.C. area.
- Fetishize. Verb form of fetish—to make something the object of a fetish. An obsession. To abnormally or inappropriately ascribe more importance or interest to a thing than is necessary or deserved. Fetishize is commonly used by people who fetishize words like “fetishize.”
- Great Recession. A lazy, pseudo-historical term used by pundits in the corporate media to characterize the depression that followed the collapse of 2008 and the economic conditions that persist today throughout much of the country. A recession is a cyclic downturn in the economy; a depression is an economic crisis caused by structural flaws in the economy. The present crisis will continue, even if some economic indicators improve, as long the the structural defects in the economy remain uncorrected. The underlying causes of the crisis of 2008 are still very much in place as of this writing (2019).
- Hero. A good word, especially when used in discussions on Greek tragedy and in literary discussions generally (e.g. the Byronic Hero, the Hemingway Code Hero, etc.). Also a good word when used sparingly, quietly, and modestly and when it does not command or demand the instant, uncritical adoration or conformity or the surrendering of opinions not shared by the majority (e.g. the silencing of a person who speaks out against a harmful or ill-conceived policy because it might affront the honor and dignity of a person who acted with courage in furtherance of such policy). There is much that is heroic in the human heart and in noble, selfless—especially self-sacrificing—acts that flow from it. In recent years it has been overused in a way that is manipulative or distracting by the corporate media. In the First World War, this kind of usage was derided as “newspaper patriotism” by those who actually served. Literary critic and WWII Marine Corps combat pilot, Sam Hynes refers to this kind of usage as a “windy word.” Ben Franklin writes about the dangers of “the hero” as a historical type. Others have written and spoken thoughtfully of the peril of nations in need of heroes and of the uncritical worship of heroes in a hard, ideological sense.
- I am passionate about ____. An enthusiastic, youthful, way of emphasizing that one cares about something with a depth of feeling beyond the ordinary. Often heard on job interviews to express breathless eagerness.
- Icon/Iconic Good words in traditional usages (e.g. medieval religious portraiture). In the modern popular and media usage, the new meaning is something like: universally emblematic of itself; characterizing the empty husk of a thing or person once fresh, original, and important, now reduced to an instantly recognizable cliché or a symbol mostly drained of any content, substance, or meaning. An image from which all depth and nuance has been sucked out leaving a reflexively recognizable reduction (e.g. Rodon’s The Thinker, da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and Munch’s The Scream). A complex thing reduced to a symbol or to mass culture banality. Ostensibly a compliment, being called an “icon” is in essence the same as being called a lazy, two-dimensional cliché.
- Incentivize. To give people an incentive to do something, I suppose.
- Influencer. Presumably someone with disproportional influence relative to their insight, merit, wisdom, and taste, or lack thereof.
- Is that really a thing? A more diffuse way of saying “Is that a real trend?” or “Is that something people actually do or believe?”
- Juxtaposition. Use sparingly. Otherwise it suffers from some of the complaints against “paradigm” (see below).
- Look. A word used by pundits on political talk shows before or at the beginning of a sentence for no apparent reason.
- My Bad. An efficient, if ungrammatical, mea culpa for a minor infraction.
- Miracle. A term of faith cynically and shamelessly appropriated by the media to describe an event (usually an accident or disaster) where survival or a happy outcome was dramatic, surprising, or unlikely, but well within the realm of possibility without divine intervention.
- Narrative. A term borrowed from literary criticism and academic history departments meaning a particular ideological or personal explanation, interpretation, or version. Often used to cast doubt on or call into question an interpretation by implying a self-serving or subjective account (or that there are no “objective” accounts). Instead of “narrative,” I prefer “interpretation” as a less loaded alternative. Explanations should be examined for their truth content and not dismissed solely because of a presumed perspective or the inferred state of mind of the narrator (an error of analysis known as psychologism).
- No worries. This term obviously means “Don’t worry about it” or “No big deal/no problem.” It was appropriated from the Aussies around or just before the turn of the twenty-first century. Do not use unless you are Australian and only if followed by “mate.”
- Paradigm/Paradigm Shift/Paradigmatic. A term that crept out of the philosophy of science of Thomas Kuhn. A favorite termof hack academics and others trying to sound smart (see “juxtaposition”). Outside specific academic usage, one should probably avoid this word altogether (and even when writing technically, “frame” or “framework” are less pretentious and distracting). If someone puts a gun to your head and commands you to use the adjective form, try “paradigmic” (parr-uh-dym’-ik) I don’t know whether or not it is a real word, but it still sounds better than “paradigmatic,” arguably the most offensive word in modern English (and your example might help start a trend for others under similar duress).
- Reach[ing/ed] out to… Just call the guy; reaching out to him doesn’t make you a better person any more than “passing away ” makes you any less dead than someone who has simply died.
- So, … A horrible word when said slowly and pronounced “Sooo…” at the beginning of a spoken paragraph or conversation or when starting to answer a question. An introductory pause word common among people born after 1965. It is a word that allows user to sound both didactic and flaky at the same time. A person who uses “So…” this way throughout all but the shortest of conversations can make some listeners from previous generations want to throw a heavy object at the nearest wall.
- Snarky. An old term that came back in the 1990s. Just a weaker and less efficient (two-syllable) way of saying “snide.”
- Society. A decomposing whale carcass left by the tide at the mean water mark, thus denoting a certain time and place. Although silent, it is depicted either as malodorous or once-great. The mean of dominant opinion, mores, and public opinion.
- Spiritual/Spirituality. A word commonly (and confidently) thrown down as a solemn trump card in discussions on metaphysics but which means nothing more than a vaguer form of “religiosity” without a commitment to specific beliefs and obligations. It is a word that allows the speaker to elevate him/herself above the conformist throng of the more conventionally faithful and makes him/her seem deeper, more individualistic, and mysterious to the unwary.
It is also an ill-defined projection of a speaker’s personality into the realm of metaphysics. It is the result of someone (often an adolescent) who wants to believe in something otherworldly when exiting belief systems are found wanting, implausible or are unacceptable whole cloth. An imprecise word whose imprecision gives it a false authority or gravitas when any number of more precise words from philosophy, psychology, or theology would suffice (e.g. animism, cosmology, deism, epiphany, exaltation, inspiration, pantheism, neo-paganism, theism, transcendentalism, and New Agey cults and religions, etc.). Although the definition of words is seldom important in good faith critical discussions, one should always ask for a concise definition of spirituality whenever it comes up in conversation. Note: there may be a narrow context or range of usage where this word is appropriate, such as referring to a priest or minister as a spiritual advisor. - Please Talk About... A favorite, if inarticulate, invitation of radio and television interviewers with insufficient knowledge or information to ask actual questions of an expert guest, thus allowing interviewees to spin things in a way that is favorable to their perspective (e.g. “Your company is responsible for the recent catastrophic oil spill that has killed all of the marine life in the region. Talk about the safety precautions it has put in place since the spill.”).
- Text. A noun meaning a written work or a portion of writing. It is pretentious as hell, and I believe an inaccurate word. Human beings do not read text. We read language.
- Thinking outside of the box. An inspirational “inside the box” cliche expressing a good idea. Not being bound by a limiting conventional framework (or, in the narrow and correct usage in science/philosophy of science, a paradigm). Science progresses by advancing to a point where it smashes the existing frame (e.g. Special and General Relativity superseding the Newtonian edifice in the early twentieth-century). Ironically, this term is often used by conventionalist businessmen/women who somehow think of themselves as mavericks and innovators. A term favored by motivational speakers, leaders of focus groups, and other manic careerist types and their adjuncts.
- To be sure. A common infraction even by important historians, social commentators, and novelists when conceding a point they consider to be unimportant to the validity of their overall argument (usually at the start of a paragraph). No less a writer than Henry Miller has succumbed to “to be sure.” It was fine in Britain 100-150 years ago, but is hard to stomach today because of its confident overuse and how it strikes the ear as old fashioned. Consider instead: “Admittedly,” “Certainly,” “Of course,” “Albeit” (sparingly), and other shorter and less smug-sounding terms. It is still an acceptable mainstay of pirate talk however, and, to be sure, one can easily imagine its use by Wallace Beery as Long John Silver in the 1934 movie version of Treasure Island. International Talk like a Pirate Day is September 19.
- Trope. An okay word that is overused to disparagingly characterize an overused story. Use it perhaps three times in your life.
- You as well. A less efficient way of saying “You too.” A classic illustration of middle class “syllable multiplication” (see Paul Fussell’s Class). I think people use this to add variety to their usage rather than rely solely on the less satisfying “You too.” Unconsciously, people might think that a simple sentiment may be made somehow more interesting by expressing it with more words/syllables (e.g. using “indeed” rather than “yes” in simple agreement). In a similar sense, syllable multiplication gives the illusion of adding content. A similar phenomenon is the pronunciation of some multi-syllable words with emphasis on the last syllable, giving the impression of two words. (e.g. “probably” spoken as “prob-ub lee'” with emphasis on the suffix).
- You’re very welcome. An in-your-face, parrot or mirror-like reply to “Thank you very much.”* Common among people under 40, it may be used earnestly, reflexively, or to mock what the young perceive to be the pretentious hyperbole of older people who have the unmitigated gall to add the intensifier “very” when a simple “thank you,” “thanks, ” or understated nod would suffice. Even in a time when “very” is very much overused, one should take any sincere variation of “Thank you” for how it was intended—as a gift of civility and etiquette freely offered—and a mocking or mildly snarky reply of “you’re very welcome” is at least as smug as this blog posting. *Note: The word very should never be used in writing as an intensifier (there are some acceptable usages such as “by its very nature”).
- Weaponize. To give something an added function by making it into a weapon or something to be turned against another person (e.g “She effectively weaponized the stapler by throwing it at him”).
Finally, there is a much-maligned word that I would like to resurrect or at least defend: Interesting. If used as a vague and non-committal non-description or non-answer, it should be avoided unless one is forced into using it (e.g. when one is compelled by circumstances to proffer an opinion or else be rude or lie outright; in this capacity, the guarded “interesting” never fools anybody and is usually interpreted as a transparent smokescreen for a negative opinion). However, for people who like ideas and appreciate the power and originality of important concepts, “interesting ” can be used as an understated superlative—a quiet compliment, a note of approval or admiration that opens a door to further explanation and elaboration.
Essay: On the Hip and Hipsters
Present rant triggered by a routine stop at a coffee shop.
I appreciate that language evolves, that the meanings of words change, emerge, evolve, disappear, diverge, procreate, amalgamate, reemerge, splinter-off, become obscure, and overshadow older meanings, especially in times of rapid change. I am less sanguine about words that seem to be appropriated (and yes, I know that one cannot “steal” a word) from former meanings that still have more texture, resonance, authenticity, and historical context for me in their original usage.
For example over the past decade, and probably going back to the 1990s, the word “hipster” has taken on a new, in some ways inverse, but not unrelated meaning to the original. My understanding of the original meaning of “hipster” was a late 1930s-1950s blue collar drifter, an attempted societal drop-out, a modernist descendant of the romantic hero, and borderline antisocial type who shunned the “phoniness” of mainstream life and commercial mass culture and trends and listened to authentic (read: African-American) jazz—bop—(think of Dean Moriarty from On the Road).1
He/she was “hip” (presumably an evolution of 1920s “hep”)—clued-in, disillusioned—to what was really going on in the world behind the facades and appearances. This meaning stands in contrast to today’s idea of “hip” as being in touch with current trends—an important distinction. The hipster presaged the beat of the later 1950s who was more cerebral, contrived, literary, and urban. In the movies, the male of the hipster genera might have been played by John Garfield or Robert Mitchum. In real life, Jackson Pollock will suffice as a representative example. Hipsters were typically flawed individuals and were often irresponsible and failures as family people. But at least there was something authentic and substantial about them as an intellectual type.
By contrast, today’s “hipster” seems to be self-consciously affected right down to the point of his goateed chin: consciously urban (often living in gentrified neighborhoods), consciously fashionable and ahead of the pack, dismissive of non-hipsters (and quiet about his/her middle-to-upper-middle class upbringing in the ‘burbs and an ongoing childhood once centered around play dates), a conformist to generational chauvinism, clichés, and dictates. Today’s hipster embodies the calculation and trendiness that the original hipsters specifically stood against (they were noticed, not self-promoted). Admittedly, hip talk was adopted by the Beats and later cultural types and elements of it became embedded in the mainstream and then fell out of favor. Today it seems affected and corny (as Hemingway observes “…the most authentic hipster talk of today is the twenty-three skidoo of tomorrow…”).2
I realize that this might sound like a “kids these days” grouse or reduction—and I hope it is not; upon the backs of the rising generation ride the hopes for the future of the nation, our species, and the world. I have known many young people—interns and students—the great majority of whom are intelligent, serious, thoughtful, and oriented toward problem solving and social justice. There is also a strong current toward rejecting the trends of previous generations among them. The young people these days have every right to be mad at what previous generations have done to the economy and the environment and perhaps the hipsters among them will morph into something along the lines of their earlier namesake or something better.
If not, then it is likely that the word will continue to have a double meaning as the original becomes increasingly obscure or until another generation takes it up as its own.
- For the best analyses and commentary on the original meaning of “hip” and “hipster,” see Norman Mailer’s “The White Negro,” “Reflections on the Hip,” “Hipster and Beatnik,” and “The Hip and the Square” in Advertisements for Myself.
- See “The Art of the Short Story,” in The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, Hemingway Library Edition, 2.