Many years ago, my pastor preached a sermon that has stuck with me about the use, or actually misuse, of the word “awesome.” He said that overusing it diminishes the power behind the idea of something or someone being “awesome.”
Let’s begin with two definitions:
- “Awe” is defined as “a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder” (Oxford dictionary).
- “Awesome” means something is so amazing that it is miraculous, unbelievable in its power and scope. According to yourdictionary.com, something can be considered awesome when it is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like. According to the website Ragan.com: “…most people seem unaware of the full meaning of awesome. In addition to the power of something to be inspiring, to produce joy, ‘awesome’ can mean inspiring terror, as in ‘the awesome power of the sea.’”
As I did my research on this, I discovered that many other people also think that the term “awesome” is overused.
According to a TIME article, journalist Tim Askew states the following: “Awesome. I would advise any entrepreneur who aspires to be taken more seriously to eliminate this ubiquitous word from his or her vocabulary.
“Urbandictionary.com describes awesome as ‘something Americans use to describe everything.’ When something describes everything, it describes nothing.” He goes on to share an experience he had at a convention in Nashville. “Lots of useful, enjoyable, wonderful stuff there, as always, but I was stunned by how almost every speech by every presenter and almost every overheard or casual conversation was peppered with the word ‘awesome.’ It was inescapable, like verbal kudzu choking out the variegated richness of the English language–so omnipresent it seemed like an acceptable substitute for just about any word. ‘Yeah, really awesome, man.’ It was like a lingua franca of evanescent mush, a meme of meaninglessness masquerading as communication and cool.”
He shared the following fact: “People in Shakespeare’s time had working vocabularies of around 54,000 words. They actually talked like characters in Shakespeare’s plays. The working vocabulary of the average American is 3,000 words and, I suspect, is declining.
So, is ‘awesomeness’ the beginning of the end for nuanced, accurate business communication? Does it render exact words irrelevant, mute, and dead? Does the practicing and practical entrepreneur even need words and vocabulary to be awesome?”
On the website Ragan, journalist Barb Sawyers wrote an article entitled “’Awesome’: The Most Overused Word in English.” She stated that, “awesome must be the most overused word in the English language. So let’s stop using it as our default every time we are too lazy, busy, insecure, stupid or whatever to think of a more or original irrelevant word.” (A little insulting, I know.)
Neil DeGrasse Tyson, a well-known astrophysicist and host of the documentary Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, has some interesting opinions on the word “awesome.” According to the website Bustle: “Tyson thinks ‘awesome’ is a word that should be used sparingly so its meaning is not cheapened, and he took to Twitter to express his frustration about kids these days.”
Of course, there are many other words that are exaggerations because they are stated as absolutes, words like “perfect,” “the best ever” “outstanding,” and “totally…” (and you can fill in the blank after this word). The more descriptive we are in our language, the healthier our communication can be.
I think the misuse of the word “awesome” has some special ramifications because it should be reserved only for those things that truly are awesome. For me I see creation as awesome, the universe, nature, the ways our brains work, and, as a person of faith, God’s love for us and all the amazing information in the Bible that can inspire and guide us. I believe these are deserving of my awe.
Back to the pastor I spoke about at the beginning. He ended the sermon by saying how much he enjoys a good Philly cheese steak but knows that it should not be called “awesome.” “Delicious” however, is acceptable. 😊
Invitation for Reflection
- What images and memories did this blog evoke for you? How did it make you feel?
- What conclusions have you come to with regard to the use or misuse of the word “awesome”?
- Are you inspired in any way to examine your usage of this word?
Diane Wagenhals
Director Emeritus, Lakeside Global Institute