I Come To Augment Awesome, Not To Bury It
I’m trying to cut down on my uses of the word “awesome.” Without drastic measures, any steps I take in this direction will be erased by Gen Con, where it thrives like duckweed on a pond. I like the word okay but it has become a linguistic monoculture. Since I don’t want to avoid expressing excitement and approval, it falls to me to find alternatives to rotate into the mix. Join me in this war against verbal word clusters by helping to popularize some or all of the following potential auxiliary terms:
Audacious
Arguments for: 1) like awesome, repurposes a specific word to more general use 2) easy to swerve in mid-syllable when you find yourself already in the middle of saying “awesome”
Arguments against: like awesome, repurposes a specific word to more general use
This chocolate mousse is audacious.
Bitchin’
For: reanimates outdated term used for same purpose as awesome
Against: mildly sweary
Steve ran a totally bitchin’ demo.
Praiseworthy
For: 1) ironically understated (and therefore highly Canadian); 2) successfully field-tested on my lovely wife, who went from rejecting it to saying it in a matter of hours
Against: irony of term may make use seem insincere
Dude, your panel was praiseworthy.
Majestic
For: meaning very similar to original meaning of awesome
Against: additionally depletes stock of words that mean what awesome used to mean
Robin, your new shirt for Gen Con is majestic!