Language Changes

One lesson that I've learned the hard way in recent years is that language is constantly changing. This is true of all living languages, including English. We don't have to like it, but there's nothing we can do about it except adjust. It's like the weather in this way.

I'll give a few examples, then explain some possible implications.

When I was younger, almost anything good was bound to be called "awesome" by somebody at some time. I think that sports commentators started this, as in "that was an awesome double play" or "that was the most awesome pass I've ever seen in all my many years of following football. Back to you, Howard." Now, at one time not very distant in the past, the word "awesome" meant something somewhat different. It meant something like "awe-inspiring," or perhaps "deserving of reverence or a feeling of awe." God was considered "awesome." A very beautiful painting might have been considered "awesome." These days, when I hear a young person say "awesome," I usually hear a tone of irony or sarcasm. So these young people mean "awesome," at least some of the time, in the opposite sense of what it meant when I was their age.

"I heard the exam for this class is really hard. Lots of people failed it last year."

"Awesome."

And so on.

Another example, in this case more obscure, is the word "moot." Now, the word "moot" is related to the English word "meet." Some time ago (centuries ago), to "moot" something meant to put it up for discussion. At the very least it meant that the matter was as yet undecided.* These days when we say that a point is "moot," we usually mean that it's already been decided, so we might as well not bother with it since there's nothing we can do about it. If you were to say at a "meeting," "I would like to moot a point," at the very best people would look at you as if you had said something particularly stupid. If the other people at the meeting were "awesome," they might grab you by the neck, punch you on the ear a few times, and then throw you out of the room.

So here we have another word which has reversed it's meaning, in this case completely. How this happened I don't know, nor do I particularly care. It's a moot point.

The final example is the word "unique." Most dictionaries will tell you that the first and main meaning of the word "unique" is something like "sole, singular, the only one." One example which comes to mind is the Eiffel Tower. It's in Paris. There are many copies, large and small, but there is one, and only one, Eiffel Tower. Therefore, the Eiffel Tower is unique. In recent years, however, the word "unique" has fallen from its once high place. Very often I hear people say that something is "very unique," or "really unique," when they mean that the thing in question is not in fact the only one of its kind in existence, but merely unusual or out of the ordinary. "That vase is really unique." "That was a unique man" - meaning that he was weird or odd, but the person speaking is trying to be nice.

I think I've made my point that language changes. I could give more examples, but I don't think it's necessary. Now, a few implications.

First, I think it's clear that we change the meanings of words to suit our needs, or that the meanings of words change because their original meanings have become garbled, confused, or simply lost. Overall I think this is a positive implication, because we can use language like a tool; as the saying goes (or went the last time I checked), "the right tool for the right job." So, as long as we can get people to consent to a change in the meaning of a word, we can use it in a new or different way according to the needs of the time.

Second, a less positive implication. When the meaning of a word changes, we lose a little something. We might lose a little of our connection with the continuity of the past, because we misunderstand what, for example, Jane Austen meant when she used the word "sensibility" in the title of her book Sense and Sensibility. Over time these changes build up, and eventually you have a completely different language. This isn't an entirely bad thing, since it means that we're not imprisoned by the way things were done in the past. We do, however, have to face the consequences, one way or another, to the best of our abilities.

I could go on, giving more examples and more implications. I think I'll stop here though, since I'm nowhere near awesome enough to moot such a unique point.

*Actually, the use of the word "moot" to mean "something undecided" can be found as recently as Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851).

Hans Bricker