Some tropes, you can use them creatively and surprise the audience. But then there are some that are simply a problem. Sometimes, there are clichés that don’t anger me because they’re used but because they exist. In this case, we have a problem with language itself.
As my second favorite wiki explains, language evolves. Words have a beautiful power, but the most beautiful words are adoringly overused and begin to lose their meaning. It’s a sad fact that I hate to see.
A long, long time ago, I was involved in the Himitsu Project group that translated Yu-Gi-Oh! manga. Among other things, I made the omake at the end of each chapter. I distinctly remember that at least one involved a character calling another ‘retarded’. The pejorative was fashionable in our IRC channel.
Days later, in an unrelated forum discussion in which I’m sure we used the word liberally, a young, anonymous poster suddenly burst in and pleaded something like this:
Please stop using ‘retard’ as an insult. My sister was a beautiful person and died when she was seven, and I can’t stand to see people compare ‘idiots’ to her by calling them ‘retarded’.
We all looked at that and collectively muttered, “Oh. Well. Ow. Um.” Many guilty looks were traded. We stopped using it as an insult. Not only that, we (or at least, I) discouraged others from using it. I would cite this example, and people would instantly understand and sympathize.
It reminds me of one of the first articles ever posted on Cracked.com, ‘9 Words That Don’t Mean What You Think‘. Words like ‘pristine’ and ‘peruse’ were shown to mean something different or even opposite than what I had always thought. It opened my eyes to just how precise a language to be, and also to how easily people can muck that up.
English is a beautiful language. Pontypool disturbed me so much because I love English and Pontypool was about ruining it.
Therefore, the cliché I abhor the most lately is when people use a word but mean another. Read over the TVTropes page ‘You Keep Using That Word‘ for examples.
I’m going to go stroke a dictionary and tell it that everything will be okay.
About Fiona Canteberry
A novelist from northwest Arkansas, Fiona's range of topics include writing, tropes, and self-improvement. She goes by 'FekketCantenel' online.
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I agree, although I had to look up Pontypool to do so, and I didn’t really see the connection between “words that are inappropriate to use because they are rude” and “words that are inappropriate to use because they are wrong.”
Funnily enough, I got in a debate yesterday with someone because they used the word “own” regarding software, and I was pointing out that no one owns software, just the license to that software. Then he went and backtracked and said that by “own” he meant “unrestricted ability to play.”
People need to understand that if you don’t use the words right, then communication breaks down and OF COURSE no one’s going to understand you. Most words, especially in the English language, have a very strictly defined meaning, and using them incorrectly at whim and expecting everyone to miraculously understand you is stupid at best.
Ship horse went boathappy! Did you know what that meant? No. It meant “can you understand this?” It didn’t even get the punctuation right!