essay #2- Isn't it Wyrd?

In today’s society people are controlled by the media and most follow this perfect cookie cutter idea of how they think they should be. Between peer pressure and pressure of their own, there’s always a way to be thinner, tanner, more muscular, and so on. Today’s world gives somebody the option to completely change their appearance to how the media wants them to look. On average, most will follow current trends, even if they hate them. For a perfect example: neon leggings, or leggings in general. Everyone knows they are hideous and not flattering to most figures, yet the majority or teens and young adult women wear them with pride. It’s the pendulum theory. Things change for a while, but almost always circle back around. Does this stand true for everything though? Trends are followed so the people following them feel more socially accepted. Nobody wants to be considered odd, not in style, or weird. Nobody wants to be considered strange by any means, yet our culture definitely has a way of twisting things around.
Today the word weird in context is used in the sense of feeling strangely or someone who is odd. The etymology of weird however comes from the old English term, “wyrd”. Mostly rooting from Anglo- Saxon and Nordic culture, back then the word weird or “wryd” meant fate, destiny, having the power to control fate, or pertaining to the Fates in Mythology. This meaning has since then become archaic and is only used in Scotland today in its original context.
In 1815, Shakespeare used his characters the “three witches” or “weird sisters” in MacBeth as means to control fate. They played the role as puppet masters with MacBeth’s ambition, and their prophecies controlled his actions. They were “fate personified”. However, these “old hags” give weird the meaning of how our culture uses it today. Their odd appearance sealed their own fate. Relating to Shakespeare’s “weird sisters” are the Fates in Greek and Roman Mythology.
“ They were three, Clotho, the Spinner, who spun the thread of life; Lachesis, the Disposer of Lots, who assigned to each man his destiny; Atropos, she who could not be turned, who carried “the abhorrèd shears” and cut the thread at death” (p.49).
Serving Hecate, Goddess of the “Dark of the Moon” and “the black nights when the moon was hidden” (p.32), these fates shared an eye and saw the future for mortals. Hecate and her servants were associated with “deeds of darkness”. They were supernatural beings who controlled the destiny of men and of the Gods.History of the word “wryd” began to change once the “three witches” in Shakespeare’s MacBeth became known as the “weird sisters”.
As time goes on, things change, new fashion statements are introduced, new words are created, and old words change meaning. Yet, how has a word such as “wyrd” gone from
meaning one’s fate or destiny, to the negative spin that is put on it today, odd or strange? Our culture tends to put a negative connotation to some words. I would have to agree with Guilbault, the writer or “Americanization is Tough on “Macho””. She states that, “the impact of language in our society is undeniable,” and a negative connotation on a word “hints at a deeper cultural misunderstanding that extends beyond mere word definitions” (p.239). Words in the English language have become meaningless, and weird is one of them.
Weird: odd-looking or uncanny. In today’s society anything can be considered weird. The term is used so loosely that it has almost become a “weasel word” or filler; almost along the lines of “umm”. From commenting on one’s personality, to how they are dressed, or how one is feeling, it’s all weird, weird, weird. Sadly, the word has become over used and pointless. I almost like the old definition better; “fateful intervention of supernatural influences in human affairs,” that really gives the word some size. Americans are lazy, what can I say? No one wants to use a selection of different words when they can use the same word that’s short and easy to get out. People go to school to gain intelligence, and there is nothing intelligent about using the same word to describe several feelings and appearances. There’s a huge book called a dictionary, people! Stick your nose in it once and while, you might surprise yourself.
Do I contradict myself? Absolutely. I’ll admit, I will always take the easy way out and use weird instead of interesting or other words that could better describe a situation. However, our culture has a tendency to change meanings, and create slang, making it no biggie.
So who’s to blame? Ourselves, or the media who acts as the Fates in today’s world? Do we the American people ruin our own language or has the media controlled how we communicate today?
The Media once again intervenes in our lives. It would have never been acceptable 20 years ago for information about sex, or shows and movies with sex scenes to be aired, and now that’s the norm. It was considered trashy and disrespectful for people to drop cuss words on television, and now it’s seen everywhere. By the media exposing us to such things, my generation grew up thinking cussing and casual sex was the norm for everyone. I think once an idea or word is introduced in this culture, the meaning and strength is lost because it becomes over-used. Cuss words would only be mentioned usually if someone was extremely angry or something extremely important was happening. Today we use it in every day conversation without thinking twice.
Our words are slowly becoming gibberish without us even knowing; just a bunch of meaningless words we string together to communicate like we’re saying something of importance. Everything is accepted in today’s society, and anything goes. And that to me, is weird.

Blog 2/22

I thought A Brief History of English written by Paul Roberts was very interesting because the first sentence, “No understanding of the English language can be very satisfactory without a notion of the history of the language,” fit perfectly with the research paper I had just written about my great aunt coming to America. She had no knowledge of the English language and I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to be thrown into a school setting not knowing anything. Especially back then when schools were more “Americanized” rather than diverse with a lot of culture; she and my grandmother must have had an extremely difficult time.
Old World, New World by Bryson, really got me thinking when he points out that O.K, OK, and okay are used in so many different ways in the English language. I know I use many sayings throughout the day. It never really occurred to me how much our culture uses that word as space fillers, like Bryson points out; or to describe how lunch was or how our day was. It really fascinated me that Okay was the most “widespread of all English words”. I also think it’s very interesting how many languages emerged from other languages with different twists and turns to them. Every language has a connection and root from another language which I think is pretty cool. Plus, if you pay enough attention to those changes and roots it is easier to learn new languages because you apply the different roots from other languages that you know.
“How big is the English language?” In Order Out of Chaos, also written by Bryson, I began to think that the English language is bigger than we can measure. Yes, there are thousands of words in the dictionary, but what about the words we use day to day, such as slang, or saying and words that are popular in a certain region that aren’t in the dictionary. There is no way to indicate how many words exist in our language. I also thought, is it possible for an average student to have a vocabulary of 150,000 when a professor ( from what Bryson stated) , only has 30,000? Is it because as younger people we’re exposed to more vocabulary and slang than just what we are taught? It seems a little bit too extreme to be possible. After all, professors have gone through higher education than a current student and are elders. But, it’s definitely an intriguing argument.

Language of Love

In a young woman’s life, one of the most important languages to learn and master, is the language of love. This language is almost impossible to perfect, but, is probably what every girl strives to learn. As a girl looking for love, myself, I’ve come to the conclusion that trying to learn and communicate it just between words and body language, is almost as complicated as trying to order from McDonald’s in Spanish after only a few days of classes. In class and life there’s that unsettling feeling of not knowing what’s right or if the correct path has been taken. Unfortunately, when it comes to Spanish there is a right and wrong answer, but maybe the comprehension of how to come upon that answer is slightly blurry, just like the path to come upon our perfect mate. The whole process seems to be the guess and check method that was taught back in elementary school.
In 3rd grade there always seemed to be two love birds that got caught passing notes. Once they were opened by the teacher, because very rarely was no one caught, most would read, “Do you like me, check yes or no,” and this is where at a very young age we are taught to always find the answer to love, but an answer that seems so inexplicable. However, that one little note gave some sort of reassurance that we were on the right track. Yet, as I get older it makes me wonder how two people, who speak completely different languages, know when they’ve found love just by the way they interact with each other, and it’s almost more complicated to love someone who speaks the same language.
The world of dating and trying to find love runs parallel with the million ways to conjugate a verb. Is love more difficult to find being American and speaking English because our language is the hardest to learn? Or do we make it more complicated for ourselves? It seems so simple for everyone else. But here, we are in a country where people are forced to become the perfect spouse instead of being loved for who they already are. I, myself, own about a dozen books on relationships, and what guys are looking for, and I’m only 19 years old! From He’s just not that into you to The Game: Penetrating the secret society of pickup artists, these authors try to teach us the language of love and communication, but does it really work? Is it as simple as reading a book, and are answers going to be found? And is there a right and wrong answer when it comes to who pulls at your heart strings?
Once in a relationship, communication is key. Miscommunication is just about the same as speaking different languages, which in America we don’t seem to be very accepting of other cultures to begin with, so imagine what it would do to a relationship— train wreck. This is where problems occur and selective listening come into play. Even if both partners are speaking the same language, it would almost seem that if one is speaking English, the other is only hearing Spanish. At this day and age miscommunication is possibly one of the easiest things to come across. We have so many ways to communicate whether it be with our words, through a text message, email, instant message, or raw body language, there is always a way to misinterpret what point is really trying to be made. Almost any written form of communication has flaws because the words, the tone, the way the message was formatted may be taken in a negative way. Therefore always vocalize it.
When it comes to love, we all speak the same language, it’s the heart beat of each other. Whether we still guess and check, read books for advice, get caught up in a text message rumble, or misinterpret what others say, the beauty is, “I love you” means the same in every language, and that language, is one worth learning.