I just got done reading an amazing article about an amazing new show that will amaze their amazing audiences. Am I the only one who has noticed that everything that used to be fantastic, great, radical, wicked, awesome, cool, and groovy is now amazing? And why is it that this particular variation of "I like it a lot and recommend it to you" actually grates on me? I feel like I hear it all the time. Everything is now amazing. From this sandwich to those jeans to that movie and your ass, everything has become over-the-top, too-good-to-be-true, the best thing EVER. Oh, hyperbole...why won't you die?!
This irritation drove me to Merriam-Webster so I can actually look up the meaning of amaze:
Amaze, from the the Middle English amasen from the Old English a-masian meaning "to confuse." Current definition? (1) to perplex or bewilder. (2) to fill with wonder.
OK, so that new cheese shop fills you with wonder, I'm guessing, because if you're perplexed or bewildered, you're probably from the former Soviet Union and it's 1992. What does wonder mean? Good question.
Wonder, from the German wunder [helpful, M-W, really helpful]. (1) a cause of astonishment or admiration. (2) a quality of exciting amazed admiration [talk about hyperbole. I feel there should be three exclamations after that one]. (3) rapt attention at something awesomely mysterious or new to one's experience.
Wow. Let's just say for arguments sake, you mean (1) a cause of admiration. What does admire mean?
Admire from Middle French (admire is admire in French) and means to marvel in both English and French. On to marvel...
Marvel doesn't seem to have a root language, but it means (1) to become filled with surprise, wonder, or amazed curiosity. (2) to feel astonished or perplexed.
Oy, one more then:
Astonish from the Anglo-French to stun and the Latin to thunder. Current definition is to strike with sudden and usually great surprise.
Gosh, a lot of these just keep going back-and-forth, don't they?
So, we seem to have quickly become a country that is greatly surprised by lots of awesomely mysterious new experiences. Like, you know, cupcakes.
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Actually, I think it's because of you that "amazing" bugs me a lot. Remember when we were writing the Rachel script and you told me about that girl who said that everything was amazing? Yeah, that's it...
Oh yes I remember it well.
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