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Shamed by You English?

Evening639Evening639 Posts: 368
in Comics Talk Community - The On Topic Forum
https://www.cbr.com/ms-marvel-embiggen-merriam-webster/

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this since Merriam-Webster has already come to Donald Trump's rescue after his use of the word "bigly." Still, I sometimes wonder how emdumber future generations will sound the more neologisms infiltrate our lexicon.

Also, how slow of a news day was it at CBR today?
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  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,638
    edited March 2018
    Embiggens is a great word.
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  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,748
    Verily @mwhitt80, thou speakest the truth.

    The greatest asset of the English language is its ability to evolve along with our culture.
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  • Evening639Evening639 Posts: 368
    nweathington said:

    Verily @mwhitt80, thou speakest the truth.

    The greatest asset of the English language is its ability to evolve along with our culture.

    I already liked you @nweathington, but you're now my new favorite forum member for using the word "verily."
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  • MattMatt Posts: 4,457
    nweathington said:

    Verily @mwhitt80, thou speakest the truth.

    The greatest asset of the English language is its ability to evolve along with our culture.

    I don’t know. Word usage like “woke” instead of”socially aware” get under my skin.
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  • TorchsongTorchsong Posts: 2,794
    You take the good you take the bad...

    I'm not a fan of the word "...splaining" in any form*, but I love the hell out of "embiggen".

    * I get what it is, and I know that it happens, but just call it the ad hominem logical fallacy, willya?
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  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,748
    edited March 2018
    I think the word “woke” is perfect in every way. For one thing, it's short. It starts with a soft consonant and ends with a hard consonant, which reflects the waking up from a dream and encountering harsh reality implications of its (newish) meaning. In other words, it conveys power—much more power than “socially aware”—which is exactly the point of the word. Just my two cents.
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  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,748
    Evening639 said:

    nweathington said:

    Verily @mwhitt80, thou speakest the truth.

    The greatest asset of the English language is its ability to evolve along with our culture.

    I already liked you @nweathington, but you're now my new favorite forum member for using the word "verily."
    Forsooth, I don’t get to use it nearly as often as I would like.
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  • kiwijasekiwijase Posts: 451
    nweathington said:

    Evening639 said:

    nweathington said:

    Verily @mwhitt80, thou speakest the truth.

    The greatest asset of the English language is its ability to evolve along with our culture.

    I already liked you @nweathington, but you're now my new favorite forum member for using the word "verily."
    Forsooth, I don’t get to use it nearly as often as I would like.
    I myself would love for "Hey nonny nonny" to be reintroduced into the lexicon.
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  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,748
    kiwijase said:

    nweathington said:

    Evening639 said:

    nweathington said:

    Verily @mwhitt80, thou speakest the truth.

    The greatest asset of the English language is its ability to evolve along with our culture.

    I already liked you @nweathington, but you're now my new favorite forum member for using the word "verily."
    Forsooth, I don’t get to use it nearly as often as I would like.
    I myself would love for "Hey nonny nonny" to be reintroduced into the lexicon.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf_q3lhb16c
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  • MattMatt Posts: 4,457
    nweathington said:

    I think the word “woke” is perfect in every way. For one thing, it's short. It starts with a soft consonant and ends with a hard consonant, which reflects the waking up from a dream and encountering harsh reality implications of its (new) meaning. In other words, it conveys power—much more power than “socially aware”—which is exactly the point of the word. Just my two cents.

    I’d prefer “awaken” be used instead. I put using “woke” in the same category I put “talk to the hand,” “don’t go there,” & “that’s what I’m talkin’ about.”

    It’s worse when actual adults (opposed to millennials) use the term. I’ll gladly discuss social awareness, but I cannot take the conversation seriously if “woke” is being used in the conversation.
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  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,748
    Matt said:

    nweathington said:

    I think the word “woke” is perfect in every way. For one thing, it's short. It starts with a soft consonant and ends with a hard consonant, which reflects the waking up from a dream and encountering harsh reality implications of its (new) meaning. In other words, it conveys power—much more power than “socially aware”—which is exactly the point of the word. Just my two cents.

    I’d prefer “awaken” be used instead. I put using “woke” in the same category I put “talk to the hand,” “don’t go there,” & “that’s what I’m talkin’ about.”

    It’s worse when actual adults (opposed to millennials) use the term. I’ll gladly discuss social awareness, but I cannot take the conversation seriously if “woke” is being used in the conversation.
    Catchy phrases like “talk to the hand” go in and out of fashion fairly quickly. “Woke” has been used since the ’60s. It started picking up a broader usage in 2008 with Erykah Badu’s song “Master Teacher”, and of course exploded back in 2013. And now it's beginning to evolve beyond its political/racial roots to mean more of a general, “I see what you’re doing”—often with humorous intent. So, I can’t put “woke” in the same category.

    And (not trying to be a smartass) for the sake of keeping the same tense and meaning, shouldn’t it be “awakened” rather than “awaken”? I don’t care for awakened (or awaken). It’s not as powerful sounding as woke—in fact, it sounds kind of haughty—and it has spiritual/supernatural connotations (but maybe that’s because I read too much genre fiction).

    You know, people have the same problem with the common Southern usage of “y’all”. But I think it’s great for distinguishing between the singular you and the plural you in certain instances when it could be otherwise confusing. You get the distinction without having to add a syllable. It might sound ignorant, but it’s actually very smart.
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  • MattMatt Posts: 4,457
    Nice to get the origins, but I’m sticking with Deputy Gerard.

    https://youtu.be/VdPciselWuo
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  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,748
    Matt said:

    Nice to get the origins, but I’m sticking with Deputy Gerard.

    Interestingly, “hinky” goes back to the 1920s (though it was then commonly spelled “hincty” then), and was also first used by black Americans (though there is another version of the word that goes back to Scotland).

    If you think about it, every word was once not a real word. Just ask Shakespeare.
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  • Evening639Evening639 Posts: 368
    nweathington said:

    (though it was then commonly spelled “hincty” then)

    It also mostly came at night... mostly.

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