The word “amazing” has lost all of its meaning. The word has been the adjective du jour for several years now. And as with anything that pop culture gets its grip on; it’s been overused, strangled, and choked to death.
R.I.P. Amazing.
Look at how the use of the word “amazing” has shot up recently:
And that’s just the use of the word in the printed text of books, not in everyday conversation or social media where the term has been run over by a snowplow and left for dead. Just watch any Bravo reality television show featuring middle-aged women trying to remain relevant, and you’ll run into no less than four “amazings”.
Traditionally, “amazing” was reserved for something more; “amazing” was when one experienced great surprise or wonder; something extraordinary or even breathtaking.
That mediocre slice of pizza that cost you $1.75 and you devoured in 8 seconds when you were drunk, hungry and loud? Not amazing.
Not extraordinary. Not breathtaking.
It seems that “amazing” is now being used for any good feeling on the spectrum of good feelings. I’ve heard friends use “amazing” to describe a tasty pasta dish, a customer service experience, abs, a Lifetime movie, a hand-crafted latte… and other non-amazing, everyday nouns.
Despite a vocal minority decrying the overuse of the word, pop culture is too strong to overcome by a few sarcastic articles on the internet.
A day doesn’t go by without hearing the word at least five times. It’s “amazing” that I don’t have more FOMO listening to you people.
Maybe we’re all living really mundane existences or were raised by wolves and just getting assimilated to all the amenities of a modern society… or the word “amazing” is being overused.
