The trend in everyday conversation is to use grandiose words. "Outstanding" is new "good," "amazing" is the new "OK," and "huge" is the new "big."
I was in a restaurant in D.C. last weekend and everything I asked was answered in superlatives.
Me: How s the salmon?
Server: Fantastic!
Me: Does it come with rice?
Server: Absolutely!
Would a "good" and a "yes" have been sufficient? Undeniably!
At Starbucks, the smallest coffee you can order is a Tall. Tall would seem to indicate that there was also a short and medium, with Tall being the largest. But at Starbucks, Tall is small. Grande, which is both Italian and Spanish for large, is medium.
Likewise, at your local 7-Eleven you cannot buy a small: Your choices are Big Gulp, Super Gulp and Extremely Big Gulp. OldBananaNavyGap also did away with the small. You cannot buy anything from the chain stores that is really a "small." My father is an average-sized man. He hasn t gained weight (or height, for that matter) for the past 30 years. Ergo, his size remains the same. But in the same amount of time, his T-shirt size has gone from small/medium to medium to large to extra large.
Upon reflection, the reason for all this colossal-speak is clear: We are bored with our fantastic, wonderful lives. We want the next-next thing now. Now!
And we also want others to think that we still care, that we can still be delighted, that we know that everything is just GREat. Even when deep inside we know it can t be. Everything can t be great. Hence, we live in a world where extreme is ordinary, where radical is quotidian; exceptional is pedestrian. And to not be overly delighted by the mundane is appalling. It s horrific. And, Dude, that s heinous.
I m not scientist, and my methods of proof leave a little to be desired, or a lot to be desired, or an immensity. An to be honest, I guess I d rather live in a world where people were overly excited than depressed.
But listen to the voices around you. Listen to your own voices. There is nothing on the news that is good or bad, only things that are wonderful or devastating. Even the weather is either beautiful or horrible.
Listen the next time when someone asks you something and you aGREe, because when you could simply say "yes," instead you will say "absolutely" or "without doubt" or "Oh, yeah, unquestionably - absolutely without doubt."
Have people forgotten what it is like to be OK? Simply OK with what they have and who they are?
If everything is outstanding, if everything is the most amazing thing ever, is anything ever amazing at all?
一篇真正出類拔萃的文章：夸大其詞
用詞浮夸是如今日常會話的時髦。"出類拔萃"代替了"好"，"不可思議"代替了"不錯"，"巨大"代替了"大"。
上周末我去哥倫比亞特區的一家餐館，我的每一個問題得到的回答全是最高級的修飾語。
我：鮭魚怎么樣?
服務生：妙不可言!
我：帶米飯嗎?
服務生：千真萬確!
說一個"好"和一個"是的"夠不夠?毋庸置疑嘛!
在Starbucks咖啡店，你能點到的最小份的咖啡叫"高杯"。這似乎意味著還有矮杯和中杯，"高杯"該為最大杯。可是在Starbucks，"高杯"卻是小杯。"豪華"--- 這個詞在意大利語和西班牙語中是大的意思 --- 才是中杯。
同樣地，你在當地的7-Eleven便民店里也買不到小杯咖啡：供選擇的只有大杯、超大杯和特大杯。OldBananaNavyGap商店也廢除了小號。在它的連鎖店你買不到真正的"小號"。我父親是中等體形，他的體重(或身高也如此)在過去三十年沒增加過。所以他的身體尺寸沒變化。可是在同樣長的時間里，他的T恤尺寸卻從小 / 中號增至中號、大號、加大號。
回頭想想，這種夸大其詞的原因很明了：我們對精彩、美妙的生活已經厭倦。我們現在想要的是未來之未來的東西。現在就要!
同時，我們想讓別人認為我們仍然在意生活，仍然能夠興高采烈，認為我們知道一切都是那么美好。哪怕在內心深處我們清楚這不可能。不可能事事都妙不可言。由此以來，我們生活在這樣一個世界：極度等于平凡，極端等于普通，非凡等于一般。而對尋常事物若不是感到特別高興就成了駭人聽聞。"太恐怖了"。"啊，令人發指"。
我不是專家，我的證明方法有一些，或許多，或巨大的待改進之處。坦白地說，我想我也寧愿活在一個人們激動過分而不是垂頭喪氣的世界里。
但是聽聽你周圍的聲音吧。聽聽自己的心里話。從新聞中聽不到任何好或壞的消息，只有一些要么美妙之極，要么糟糕透頂的東西。連天氣都變成了或美麗或恐怖。
當下次有人問你什么而你表示同意的時候，你留意聽聽，因為本來你可以簡單地說聲"是的"，可你卻會說"絕對如此"或"毫無疑問"或"哦，是啊，無可爭議 --- 絕對地毫無疑問"。
難道人們已經忘了"好"是什么樣的嗎?忘了什么是過得"還不錯"、自己是誰了嗎?
如果一切都成了出類拔萃，如果事事都是令人無比詫異，那還有無令人詫異一說呢?
