Hello and Welcome

Hunting in the deep dark woods and further creative ventures

5.06.2012

I am a purist

Recently (and primarily due to an influx of bitterness and historical education) I have become an intense purist. I find that being able to correct people gives me a sense of superiority. At the moment, this is needed since I'm currently suffering an inferiority complex. Not when I'm talking to my parents or spending time with my dogs, but when talking to other people or reflective upon recent social interactions, I start to feel somewhat under appreciated, and I fear for the future in terms of how people will view me. Not too healthy.

Thus, I have become more of a purist than I already was. Rather than simply correcting grammar, spelling, and facts on a regular basis, I have also taken to learning the true definitions of words, and only using the words in their traditional sense. Looking up definitions is something that I enjoy, and some are rather surprising.

The words which I am picking on the most are descriptive words. Not all, just the ones which express that something is 'good'. Most words that are used to describe good things are not traditionally used to describe good things at all. These words are actually very specific, and the realized misuse is driving me insane.

For example...

Awesome
Definition: Extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear.

Fantastic
Definition: Imaginative or fanciful; remote from reality.

Amazing
Definition: Causing great surprise or wonder; astonishing.

There are many more, but I will stop for now. However, it is thus that I am replacing all of these words with Newspeak (good, plusgood, and doubleplusgood), unless they are truly fitting. Using Newspeak may completely defeat the purpose of being a purist, but then again, it also takes purism to a scary level. Thank you, George Orwell.

2 comments: