The Vocabulary In The Era Of Inflated Language

In a 1956 letter written to a young American fan, C.S. Lewis warned against language inflation, writing "Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say ‘infinitely’ when you mean ‘very’; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite" (Letters of Note). A warning made nearly fifty years is now more relevant than ever, as we find ourselves in this exact position - we no longer have words left to use when we need to describe something truly great. And this is because of our use of extravagant and extraordinary vocabulary in everyday language. No longer do ordinary words such as good, or even great, hold the same meaning as they once did. They have instead been replaced by superlative language to describe things that may just be good, not excellent or fantastic. Everything is presented as unique and groundbreaking, but when everything is excellent, everything becomes average. Ultimately, this era of inflated language …show more content…
Language is one of the few ways that humans interact with one another, and by making it superlative, we add dead weight to our communications, which breeds a lack of clarity and understanding, and ultimately impedes our communication with one another. Hyperbolic diction is thought to be necessary in everyday vernacular; but when these terms eventually normalize, as they will, our communication becomes unclear because of indefinite words. As C.S. Lewis had warned, once we run out of words, we are unable to clearly communicate and describe anything. By inflating our language, we are destroying it. And once it is gone, the only solution is to try to create new expressions to hold the meanings of words that are used up and