LL-L "Semantics" 2005.05.23 (01) [E]

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From: Kevin Caldwell <kcaldwell31 at comcast.net>
Subject: LL-L "Semantics" 2005.05.22 (06) [E]

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Semantics
>
> Hi again, Ben!
>
> English speakers from other parts probably already know the answer.
>
> "Exciting" can certainly be used in pretty much all English dialects, but
> what to others must seem like its over-use is an American English
> phenomenon, one of those inflated, over-blown terms.
>
> Listen for the frequency of "exciting" around you and in the media.
> Everything good and pleasing is "exciting," so much so that "exciting" is
> a
> catch-all term and is very often quite meaningless, and you are at a loss
> for words when you really mean "exciting."  Lots of people say things like
> "It's exciting" or "How exciting for you!" with bored faces, anything
> *but*
> excited.  "Exciting" is often used just as a pleasantry to be agreeable,
> to
> humor someone, something like "Nice for you/them ...."
>
> "What are you guys going to do over the weekend?"
> "Oh, we'll make some popcorn and watch a couple of oldies."
> "Exciting!"
>
> Really? Not just "nice," or "great" at most?
>
> "Bob said he's going to go through the budget details with us over lunch."
> "Exciting!"
>
> Yeah, sure ... "Boring" more like!

In those cases, I think the use of "exciting" is intended as irony or
sarcasm.  It's not that we don't know what real excitement is.  In the US,
especially on the coasts (OK, it was mainly a New York and Hollywood thing),
it was trendy in the 1990s to engage in irony. For the most part, I was
unaware of this trend until someone mentioned it to me.

Kevin Caldwell

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From: Thomas Byro <greenherring at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Semantics" 2005.05.22 (06) [E]

Maybe "exciting" is just an example of a general inflation of
terminology.  I walked into a fast food joint several weeks ago and
ordered a small cup of coffee.  The woman behind the counter blandly
told me that they didn't have any "small" cups.  Their cups ran from
"large" to "jumbo".  I was about to walk away because I just wanted a
small cup when I asked her to show me their "large" cups.  Their
"large" cups were what I had until recently thought of as "small"
cups.  I then ordered a "large" cup of coffee and walked away bemused.

Tom Byro

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