I write often about how we keep stupidly abusing language, until we unconsciously come to say the opposite of what we mean. So 'crazy' which meant insane has now come to mean something to be happy about (I'm crazy about Paris Hilton), a 'fever' is something you wanted to cure, now you look forward to it (as in Saturday night fever, IPL fever). Of late this has been happening with the word humbled. Today's newspaper carries a huge banner advertisement placed by Reliance Mobile, declaring how they are 'humbled' to have crossed the 100-million subscriber milestone - when they obviously mean they are proud, which is just the opposite of humbled. In like vein an old boy wrote back to me saying he was 'humbled' to know that I still remembered him, when he too quite evidently meant proud. These days, it seems, it's politically incorrect to say you are proud about anything - unless it's 'Proud to be gay'!
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A little boy was recently lecturing me about how I ought to learn that language is like a flowing river, so it keeps changing, and offered me links to dictionary sites to find out how antediluvian I was. I was reading lexicography and etymology when he was still in diapers. In any case, my contention was that just because something is widely accepted, it is not to be compulsorily accepted as either right or good. To which his response was 'Thankfully, what you think does not matter'. Any comments...?
The fat headed little boy with his pompous statement has been hopping on my nerves. A boy trying to lecture you about how you’re behind the times and if that weren't enough, he then makes an abysmally ignorant statement. I still can’t quite believe it. Is he wearing diapers still? That really would be his only excuse.
So what you think doesn't matter, and his daft thoughts do? Does he really think that looking through some on-line dictionaries makes him worldly and knowledgeable? The feeble-minded boy hasn’t even figured out that something doesn't become automatically or compulsorily good or right just because it is widespread – and that goes for language, societal practices, laws, and even our values and beliefs!...and he's trying to tell you that your thoughts don't matter.
Even in this current messed up world – the world is cranking and creaking along precisely because what you think still happens to matter to some people. There is no other way to live. This little boy will get to know how much your thoughts matter if he ever gets around to having a functioning brain, which he doesn't currently possess. He most likely never will but then again that relates well with the mess that the world is in, filled to the brim as it is with retarded beings like this boy!
Oh, by 'little boy' I was referring more to his mental age. He claims to be 29 physically. He is an advertising copywriter, the sort who arrange to tell you on TV that your underwear decides how much of a man you are... what better can you expect from the type? His name is Sourav. A thought just struck me: by his lights (saying the opposite of what you mean is okay because it is 'widely accepted'), I guess I could say that the name means 'stink'! I wonder what his mother might feel about that, when explained that that is how her son himself thinks?
Sir,
Your prescience amazes me. Guess the main headline in the Times of India website: http://bit.ly/cPsxYn
Thanks,
Joydeep
You embarrass me, Joydeep. Hardly prescience, this, merely keeping an eye on the world, and remembering a lot of things, and knowing very deeply that people hardly ever change...
Dear Sir,
This one is funny but on a serious level also reminds me not to twist and mangle language or be excessively verbose!
Regards,
Vaishnavi
Dear sir,
you have really said it – it is surprising how words and phrases which actually mean one thing have become a part of our everyday usage to mean directly the opposite. In most cases, it’s not that the person using such phrases does not know it is not appropriate but he feels it is more apt for communicating with one’s peers on social networking websites or to connect with one’s close circle of friends ( of the same intellectual wavelength ).
As some well renowned thinkers of our times are saying – as greater number of people in our country are learning to speak the language in a bid to go global, they are rediscovering it in their own way and very soon, we will have the Indian version of english after British and American English. This is not a far-fetched dream considering India’s rise as a power to reckoned with in Asia. It’s good that our countrymen are learning the global language but it’s also equally important not to degrade its quality by such abusive usage. Presently, it is just fashionable for many people to speak in english irrespective of whoever they are talking to. There is another important trend here – many people can write english very well. In fact we may find very less errors in grammar and sentence construction if we go through their writing. The real problem lies when you ask them to speak in english fluently for a few minutes. You will find majority will perform miserably. The side effect of this is we are ‘learning’ neither our mother tongue nor the global language. Very soon Indians will be good at everything but masters at none.
Regards,
Avishek
A book that contains practice-papers for IIT-JEE has on its cover printed in a beautiful hand:
"HIGHER RANK GUARANTEED"
Don't they care to consider that, 'higher' the rank, lower is the score!
Manoshij Banerjee
Dear Sir,
I am glad you brought this up. I have had a question for a long time. I like and respect languages and like the idea of being a purist. But I have heard on more than one occasion from friends playing the Devil’s Advocate that unless we accept changes languages won’t evolve. I can’t accept sms text by any means. But then who decides that ‘congrats’ instead of ‘congratulations’ is fine and ‘whr r u?’ instead of ‘Where are you?’ isn’t?
Sincerely
Nishant.
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