Words that have lost their meaning ...

We don't have a disagreement as much as we have a language problem, Okie.

We're wading in pretty deep here, but the short answer:

Words only mean what people think they mean. But that process is not democratic. Language is received wisdom, and for implied and inferred to switch or merge definitions, it requires not just commonplace usage but also assent from the folks who put together dictionaries and teach English at universities, since those people will then influence the people who teach English at schools, who will then teach the language to students.

In the case of simple misuse -- as in inferred and implied -- the academy has been loathe to simply make a switch to reflect common usage. To do so, goes the theory, would leave us utterly unable to communicate. Barbarians at the gate and all of that. Thus, for better or worse, using inferred to mean implied will still be viewed as simply incorrect.

Irony, on the other hand, is a more interesting case. It has different meanings in different discourses, but is also misused greatly in popular culture. Thus, there are widely disparate correct uses of the word as well as simple incorrect usage.

 

Well, there's a coherent answer.
I have to wonder if we aren't awfully close to irony having its meaning completely changed, because it is virtually never used correctly. I'm really trying to remember when I have seen it used for something other than "coincidentally" or "unfortunately."

 

I actually think it's scary as hell, Okie. You're exactly right, and it's a profoundly disturbing trend, and we're all the worse for it.

Because misuse of irony isn't just an academic language usage problem -- it belies a complete lack of understanding of the age in which we live.

To give one example, how many stories have you read over the past few years -- some from educated people who should damn well know better -- about the "danger" of young people getting their news from places such as The Daily Show? These stories are built on a false foundation that not understanding irony allows. The Daily Show is post-modern ironic commentary. That is, you have to understand the news on a fairly deep level to "get" it. Many of the young people who watch the show might not understand that explicitly, but they certainly understand it on some level -- as well they should, having always lived in a post-modern society.

If kids don't understand these things because the adults who attempt to teach them don't understand them, we send them into the world completely unprepared to deal with even the popular culture sea they find themselves immersed in.

 

Unique- doesn't just mean noteworthy, means there's nothing like it in the universe.

From the Newspeak department, "freedom" and "democracy" have been stripped of meaning in a different way...and this began long before the current administration, although of course it's gotten worse.

 

Your boy Orwell had a bit to day on the subject, didn't he irish?

Teaching his essay "On Politics and the English Language" for the first time was the day I realized I was always going to be a geek. I thought it was profound and hilarious all at the same time. My students, not so much.

 

A decent lad, that Orwell. I have an affinity for Spanish Civil War vets who fought for the Loyalists. I'd like to share a pint with Orwell and I'd like to make out with Simone Weil. Sadly, they died long, long ago.

 

For those not familiar with the essay, BTW, it's worth a read and available online here:

http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit

 

impact

 

tragedy, carnage

 

"Hopefully" is completely misused, across the board.

And I have a pet peeve when it comes to "while" when it's used as a synonym for "and." As in: "Chien-Ming Wang pitched six scoreless innings while Alex Rodriguez hit three homers in the Yankees' 12-0 win over the Devil Rays." "While" suggests things happening at the same time; clearly Wang and A-Rod didn't do their damage simultaneously. A more egregious example would be "Tom Glavine pitched a complete game, striking out eight while adding a pair of hits ..." If he can pitch while hitting, I tip my hat to him.

 

I see my guys slipping that 'while' in all of the time. It drives me nuts.

 

"Literally" is a good one, especially when coupled with teens saying "That's literally, like, the 500th Coke he drank today." Well, which is it? Is that a simile, or did he truly drink that many Cokes?

Another one kids use a lot that upsets me is "random." Quotes such as "It was so random that I saw you at that store today!" just make no sense. Really? So of all the places that the person could be in the world, the chance that they appeared there was really completely out of the ordinary?

I realize while typing this that the concept of "random" is hard to understand in a non-mathematical realm as well. Perhaps that makes it more mind-boggling.