OMG
I remember as a kid there used to be crazes.
There was a hula-hooping craze when the damned things were everywhere. There was a yoyo craze when everyone had one in their pockets and there would be competitions to see who was most skillful. There was a craze for mebs [marbles] which were played along the gutters at the side of the road. The list of crazes waxed and waned and there always seemed to be a new one on the horizon.
That doesn’t seem to happen now. Kids are too busy with their mobile phones.
There is a new phenomenon though and that’s the strange fashion for words or phrases.
Not so long ago, we had “awesome”. Every fucking thing was awesome and we even had such basterdised words such as “awsomest”, presumably meaning “most awesome”. The word lost its meaning in the end as the most trivial of events or things was awesome. I hated the fucking word.
Thankfully things are no longer awesome. But we have a new strange contender.
“Oh My God”.
This is the exclamation of choice to express any surprise or delight. The severity of surprise is indicated by the pause between words – Oh… My… God. I wonder if the proponent actually ever stops to think what they are saying? Is this the start of a prayer? Is it some kind of invocation to their deity of choice? Are atheists slipping up a bit and returning to religion?
Herself enjoys those programmes where houses are done up or people are shown around properties. Of course each programme is full of “Oh My God”s as people are shown around their revamped house or are shown a new one. God must be sick of looking at houses?
Another strange expression that is not quite so popular but is frequently used in conjunction with the above –
“Oh My God! That has blown my mind”.
What the fuck does that even mean?
Grandad,
Just seen your post and I thought, Oh my God, that’s, like, so awesome!
I thought “like” had gone out of fashion? Or maybe it’s just so common I don’t notice it any more.
It used to be, ‘Kindaliker’, especially when Elvis was being impersonated!
Grandad,
Still hear it here all the time used by those below an age.
The one that really grips me? I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone on the TV or radio, when asked a question, ever answer without starting, “Well,…” or occasionally, “So,…”
Oh, and I forgot, ‘…so awesome!’ should’ve been ‘…so totally awesome!’
‘So totes awesome’ shurley?
“Every fucking thing was awesome”
It certainly is on the US shows I watch. Mostly people building “Off Grid” log cabins & Tiny Houses. When the inevitable reveal to friends & neighbours occurs at the end of the show “Awesome” is THE most used word! However, I haven’t yet seen an episode where someone is brutally honest…
I used to think that LOL meant Lots Of Love at the end of a message.
OMG is used by people who think that “Well, fuck me.” is rude, whereas blasphemy is not a problem.
The whole English language is buggered.
We have problems understanding what Chaucer wrote 700 years ago.
But now gay does not mean carefree. Wicked does not mean evil. Cool does not mean cold. Ultimate does not mean the last occurrence ever. Incredible does not mean not possible. A trannie is not a small radio using latest semi-conductors.
Somebody who had awakened from a 30 year coma would be bamboozled.
We need new dictionaries every five years, and they will not apply in five years.
How do we refer to People of Colour this week?
“We have problems understanding what Chaucer wrote 700 years ago”
I often visit old churches on my travels, and even a couple of hundred years ago the language could be very different. I shudder to think what today’s woke youngsters would think if they looked at a gravestone and saw a woman described as “Relict of John Smith”
“A trannie is not a small radio using latest semi-conductors”
I guess we are of a similar age! But if spelt “Tranny” it would have meant Ford’s best selling van…
Yes, I thought that about a Ford, M!
Another word from the sixties was ‘hateful’, and a more recent one, ‘lary’, neither of which I am particularly ‘gutted’ about forgetting forever!
To the best of my knowledge, my mind has never been blown, unless you count one episode in 1973. I’d elaborate but I really don’t remember that much about it.