"Epic" "awesome" "revolutionary" "never before seen" "once in a lifetime"

Everything is hyperbole, to the point where "epic"--something that should describe the most important events of human history--is reduced to pressing buttons well in a videogame made for children

Not to say the Protestant core of the USA hasn't had something to do with it (it's the END TIMES, you're going to burn in hell FOREVER, God's love is INFINITE, etc.) but it seems like mostly a market construction

Comical how liberals do the whole "newspeak is coming" don't realize it has; don't need to ban words if you make them completely meaningless

"Freedom" means nothing, "revolution" means nothing, "just" means nothing, "socialism" means nothing, "democracy" means nothing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recuperation_(politics)

  • Zuzak [fae/faer, she/her]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Not to say the Protestant core of the USA hasn’t had something to do with it (it’s the END TIMES, you’re going to burn in hell FOREVER, God’s love is INFINITE, etc.) but it seems like mostly a market construction

    I have a pet theory that all the divine absolutes (all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good, etc) were originally meant as this sort of exaggerated boasting, like fans at a stadium chanting "We're number 1!" and it was only later on that people started interpreting it literally.

    I do get frustrated with words that are vague to the point of meaninglessness, like you mention at the end. However I don't really think that the "power creep" of words is a new or significant problem. Do you think there's ever been a time when kids wouldn't reach for the most extreme words to describe stuff?

      • QuipeConTe [she/her,he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        El, one of the precursors to the modern conceptualization of Hashem in modern Judaism, was a king-god figure akin to An or Zeus, complete with physical depictions and even a wife, Asherah. As Judaism developed, however, the idea of the pantheon was either left behind or intentionally quashed by rulers. The words to describe Him, however, stayed the same. Baal as a word meant lord, but became synonymous with competing cults, while El, which means both God and lord, is to this day considered a defining word for God in the names of people and places, ie, El-ijah, Samue-el, Isra-el, etc.

    • Reversi [none/use name]
      hexagon
      ·
      3 years ago

      Do you think there’s ever been a time when kids wouldn’t reach for the most extreme words to describe stuff?

      It's been this way since year one, sure, but the difference is that culture moves at the speed of light thanks to the Internet and TV, the language doesn't have time to resettle itself