Awesome
Although teacher by trade, I will also be graduating this May with an English degree. That gives me the right to complain about things like this.
“Awesome” is one of those words that over the years has lost all gravitas. Dictionary.com defines awesome as “inspiring or expressing awe.” Little Jimmy down the block defines it as “really cool.” I think of it as “really cool” and would not hesitate to say that most people define it that way. For that reason I think it’s time to drop the original definition and use it for what it has become, so as to avoid potentially silly sounding statements like this one from Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff on the announcement of Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano taking his seat under President-elect Obama come January. I quote:
“The men and women of this department have been keenly focused for more than a year on facilitating a smooth transition for the incoming leadership team. Janet is an excellent choice for Secretary of Homeland Security, and I look forward to working with her as she prepares for this awesome responsibility.”
I don’t know about you, but once I see awesome I have to read that like a surfer-dude teenager. Spicoli!
On that note, gay doesn’t mean happy anymore. Just drop it.
Before I go, I must also mention that I was thinking about silly things that shouldn’t be on resumes before, and decided mine will not in anyway have the words, “…graduated from the fictional University of….” I would like to find a way to include those words in that order somewhere, though.
