Language is an ever-evolving communication tool, an abstract and symbolic system which sets us apart from other cultures. I’m glad that our complex and interesting language continues to grow–in spite of a near-universal fascination with 140-character Twitter messages.
There are some ‘evolutions’ that I could do without, however.
I don’t favor the lightning-quick appropriation (or more aptly, the mis-appropriation) of certain words that generally hold a great deal of innate cultural meaning. There are many recent examples of important words whose meanings have been altered, toned-down, cranked-up, or completely upended. Here are just a few examples of words that one can no longer depend upon a traditional definition for: “marriage”, “free”, “conservative”, and now, “forgiveness”.
The local pop radio station ran an ad this morning for the Student Debt Relief Organization’s “loan forgiveness” program. It was repeated every break, lest you miss it—and it is beyond the pale for those of us on the thinking side of the human spectrum.







