The New Word Order
As if the English language didn’t have enough words. New ones keep popping up, forcing many of the unsavvy to go for the slang dictionary for guidance! They’re discovering new words, as well as words that lost favor sometime during the twenty-first century, when we were all busy worrying about normal, ordinary things like hurricanes, volcanoes, cave rescues and winning the lotto. Some of the most creative among us were inventing new words and finding new uses for old ones. Shamelessly, the word “narcissist” quietly became a top search term during the 2010’s, and within the next decade the world’s vocabulary became overrun with words like “racist,” “plague,” “alien” and even “armageddon!” Is it a sign of the times?
Sure is! The most important thing is for all us older folks to get on board. The most dynamic and durable of the new words out there are not confusing acronyms or initialized shortenings … they’re our own words, words that have enjoyed a proud place in Webster’s dictionary, and now are being rejuvenated by anxious, bright young people, to describe the modern plight.
Be careful! If you fall into the wrong discussion forum on the world wide web, you may feel as if everyone is a gaslighting narcissist. Try to keep perspective while browsing, and please use my easy-to-understand guide, here:
List of Important and New Words
Gaslighting: Manipulate (someone) by psychological means into questioning their own sanity.
Narcissist: A person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of themselves.
Racist: Prejudiced against or antagonistic toward a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.
Plague: A contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium, typically with the formation of buboes ( bubonic plague ) and sometimes infection of the lungs ( pneumonic plague ). The word is somewhat timeless.
Alien: Belonging to a foreign country or nation. // relating to or denoting beings supposedly from other worlds; extraterrestrial.
Armageddon: A dramatic and catastrophic conflict, typically seen as likely to destroy the world or the human race.
Pandemic: (of a disease) Prevalent over a whole country or the world.
Insurrection: A violent uprising against an authority or government. This popular word has a long history in politics.
Antebellum: Occurring or existing before a particular war, especially the American Civil War.
Asymptomatic: (would be a good name for a band) (of a condition or a person) Producing or showing no symptoms.
Troll: (in folklore) An ugly creature depicted as either a giant or a dwarf. In modern use, a person who makes a deliberately offensive or provocative online post. (“Troll” is a modern term describing someone who disagrees with you while you’re among a group who are expected to agree with you. If you ask many people, though, they would describe a troll as someone who is wrong, and butting in where they don’t belong. The concept of downputting a stranger on the Internet is arrogant, and occurs in direct proportion to the excitement the accuser feels when being agreed with.) Historically, the word “troll” has mostly been used to describe a scene in a Monty Python movie.
Woke: Alert to injustice in society, especially racism.
Welcome to the 2020’s! Please get familiar with the terms! And while alien, troll and woke are among many words with normal, civilized, non-violent, non-hateful, traditional meanings, the new meanings are the ones we’re using now. People have been badly injured and even killed for ignoring the correct phraseology. Be sure to never mention anything that matters unless it’s black lives. And never question whether a woman is pregnant or just overweight, just like you normally wouldn’t question the color of someone’s skin, their religion or healthcare history. These new words require a readjustment of passion, and it’s up to all of us to understand who we’re honoring, who we’re disrespecting, and when they’re going to come for each one of us. At least when they come, now you’ll know why.
Whatever you do … troll carefully my friends.
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Mark Urso
mark@markursoblog.wpcomstaging.com
@A_Candle_Lit
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