Oxymorons
I love language. I like the cadences of different sentences and words. One of my pet favourite things is the humble oxymoron.
My top ten, in no particular order (see what I did?) are:
1. Act naturally
2. Civil engineer
3. Found missing
4. Seriously funny
5. Microsoft works
6. Original Copy
7. Definite maybe
8. Pretty ugly
9. Genuine imitation
10. Working holiday
Fabulous aren’t they?! Genuine opposites slung together as comfortably as Ann Widdecombe and Iggy Pop on a blind date.
The thing is, language is constantly evolving and developing. New words are used and old words come to mean new things. I get that. But what I don’t like are these:
Exhibit A
Gangsta
Sick
Bad (or in extreme cases ‘Double Bad’)
Wicked (sometimes with the prefix ‘Well)
Rotten
Cases in point.
In popular terminology all these now mean variations of the word ‘good’ or ‘excellent.’
NOT IN MY MOUTH THEY DON’T!
Call me old fashioned if you will. I’m listening.
But look here, if I was the enemy – which I am not – I would want to turn and twist MY vocabulary, my favourite words, into stuff that Christians say. Wouldn’t you?
So next time you hear the word WICKED or the word BAD just think about what it first meant and who it personifies. OK? What is his primary function? To be a liar.
Seeing a link?
Pretty ugly huh?