Please Read this Article, Thank you

Article: http://www.npr.org/2012/03/09/148295675/please-read-this-story-thank-you

Central Argument: The use of courteous language has slowly and gradually been vanishing.

            This article is cleverly entitled Please Read this Article, Thank you and is written by Linton Weeks. He writes about courteous language and behavior, a once common and norm in society, seems to be slowly and gradually vanishing.  Personally, I don’t agree with this statement. I think that people still are courteous; it is just generations and time that have modified the original common phrase, like thank you and your welcome, into new ones. It doesn’t mean good manners have been completely erased; it just means they are differently presented nowadays. Sure, it wouldn’t hurt if we could return to the old ways as they do seem to be more respectful and, sure, some people good use a little attitude adjusting, but the important thing is acknowledging the appreciation expressed. There is only a problem if the people are not just modifying the old words and replacing them with others, but the common respect for one disappears too. Who really cares what you say as long as the other person gets the message that you appreciate what they have done? Courtesy is still around and can be seen in the modernized words that have replaced the originals and in the common examples that occur every day.

            Firstly, it is very true that language overtime changes. Take the original greeting, for example, of “How do you do?” It became "Hello, how are you?" which in turn morphed into "Hello, how are things?" Or "How's it going?" As Cindy Senning, director of an institute dedicated to promoting etiquette and civility, says, "The principles of respect, consideration and honesty are universal and timeless," but, "manners change over time and from culture to culture." It doesn’t matter that “you’re welcome” has turned into “no problem,” or that “thank you” has become “got it.” The point is that people get one another and together can acknowledge that it means thank you or you’re welcome. You can’t justify that common courtesy is disappearing by saying that “no problem” isn’t good enough. Courtesy can be defined as the showing of politeness in one's attitude and behavior toward another or others. By saying “no problem” you are still following the definition of courtesy thus showing that just because the norms and manners and mores have changed, it doesn’t mean the respect and courtesy get lost in it all. 

            Secondly, courtesy can be seen flourishing in society all the time if you really take the time to find it. I know that you may have a bad run in once in a while, like Gregory Smith shares in the article, and that 76% of people who took this survey said that Americans are becoming more rude than civil, but courtesy has not just vanished. People, naturally, remember the bad things over the little miracles that happen every day. Say you are driving home from work and a car cuts you off; you’re more likely to remember the fact that you got cut off than that person you let you go first and then crossed the street. That contributes to the view that courtesy and manners have been diminishing, but really, people just are becoming less and less observant.

            Mt third point is that many people truly are quite well-mannered in everyday life. Take the story of Margret Lacey if you still think common courtesy has vanished. She is a regular customer at this grocery store café. When she walked in in the morning, they greeted her with a hearty “Good morning” and asked if she wanted the usual. As they made her coffee they asked her about how her morning had been and as she left they said, “Enjoy. See you tomorrow.” If that isn’t common courtesy I don’t know what is. The difference between why she thinks restaurant workers treat her so nicely, unlike George Smith, is simply because she doesn’t expect people to utter the same old same olds.

            In conclusion, words may modify and manners may change but that doesn’t mean the politeness and gratitude is no longer there in society. Imagine the stares you would get if you went into a shop and said, “How do you do?” while taking a courtesy or a bow. Just because you don’t go all out any more, like in the old days, it doesn’t mean people don’t do the same thing you’re doing by curtseying and bowing just in a more modern way.

The Rise of "Awesome"

http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/ideas/robert-lane-greene/just-awesome

Central Argument: Generations and time affect the ways in which the English language changes.

Once upon a time, words were invented as a way to communicate. Each language had its own sounds and noises that came together to mean certain things. Overtime, however, these words have been modified and come to mean slightly different things than what they originally were intended to mean; such as “awesome” and “terrible”. In Shakespeare’s classic literature you can see perfect examples of how overtime the English language has changed. Words shift together as part of a system all the time and, as time passes, one can see how evolution is not only in science but in language too.

The word “awesome” is a great example of evolution in the English language. At first, it was an awe-inspiring word but it has now become a nearly meaningless bit of verbiage referring to anything even mildly good. The first time “awesome” appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary was in 1598 when it was a description for someone feeling awe. In 1980 it was again defined in the Official Preppy Handbook as terrific, great. One can see the drastic change that went from the original meaning of “awesome” to the now current meaning overtime. The word “awesome” has now become a default descriptor for anything good; however, it originally was exclusively used for awe-inspiring things like God. This is a common thing seen throughout the English, as well as many other, languages. Like “terrible” used to have a strong connection to terror, then it referred to something shockingly bad, and today it means something just plain bad. Words are always shifting, modifying, changing, as part of unit, under cover. Nobody really notices it happening until decades, even centuries later. “Terrible” begins to mean “bad”, so “awesome” must replace “terrible”. Then “awesome” becomes “excellent”, so “awe-inspiring” has to fill the space left behind. Then teenagers hear their parents saying “awesome”, and it becomes the last thing they want to say. So new words are roped in, like “sick” meaning “great” and so on. Words do have definition but they are very malleable ones.

If one is to take a look through Shakespeare’s works, such as Romeo and Juliet or The Tempest, one can see many examples in which the English language has been simplified and changed in dramatic ways. An example would be in The Tempest when the Master is talking to Boatswain during the great storm that causes them to crash onto the island. The Master is telling Boatswain to give the other sailors a pep talk and to do it fast, before they’re shipwrecked. Then he says to Boatswain, “Bestir, bestir.” In a modern translation this would mean “Hurry, hurry.” “Bestir” today means to become active or arouse, but in the 16^th century, when it was used in The Tempest, it meant move with haste or “hurry”. Another example is in Shakespeare’s classic play Romeo and Juliet. In the beginning, when Sampson is speaking with Gregory, one can see a shift in the meaning of the word “move”. In the play, it means “anger” in a modern translation. One can see the modification that has come of the word “move”. Today it means to go in a specific direction or manner, which isn’t even close to the meaning of anger, which is what William Shakespeare intended on “move” meaning when he wrote the script.  These two examples are just a couple that show what great changes have come over the English languages in time.

In conclusion, words change their meaning like girls change their clothes. Nobody knows when the transformation will occur, but it does happen for every word. Then another word has to replace what that word originally meant and the modifying chain of words continues. Evolution not only affects people, but the English language as well.