One of the joys of being a language nerd is the chance to observe how language is ever changing. I am seldom bored as long as I have some bit of language to analyze, whether it be a random conversation in the Walmart checkout line or a phone conversation with our thirty-something Californian family members.
Price Point
Home and Garden Television (HGTV) provides lots of opportunities to listen to real people speaking real language. A term I hear constantly on "House Hunters" is "price point." The agent assures the eager couple that he can find them a house at their "price point." Why not say "at your price"? It is fun to speculate why speakers begin to use a new term. What does "price point" provide that good old simple "price" does not? Is it our aversion to discussing finances that makes us want to bury the reference to money in an expression?
Skill Set
Another term that has turned a word into an expression is "skill set." Why not just "skill"? "I don't have the skill needed to turn on Netflix on my new television." Is it perhaps that modern life has become so complicated that it now takes a set of skills rather than a single skill to survive? Having just gone through several days of breaking in a new remote controller for our television, I do wish my technology skill set was larger!
Issues
I was teaching a college course in English Linguistics several years ago when I a student told me she was having "issues" with an assignment. Was she having problems, I wondered? The Merriam Webster Dictionary gives multiple definitions for "issue," the closest one to the idea of a problem being "a point of debate or controversy." "Issue " is used so frequently nowadays that I use it myself. Did we all get tired of talking about problems? Does the word "problem" have such a negative connotation that we are trying to soften it with a more neutral word?
Reach Out
Our travel agent recently volunteered to "reach out" to the airlines to find us air transportation to Europe this summer. What happened to contacting people and companies? Has the word "contact" become too formal? "Reaching out" to someone does sound more friendly, I must admit. But it is still a bit too modern for my vocabulary, and I would feel uncomfortable using it.
Optics
I saved the best for last — "optics." "Don't let the elderly politician appear with his young blond curvy girlfriend. The optics would be bad." I like the new use of this word. Optics used to mean a science that deals with the nature and properties of light. Now it can mean "appearance" or "perception." What a leap the word has taken! Instead of remarking, "That wouldn't look right," we can now say "Bad optics."
Ah, language.
Language is going to evolve in spite of our efforts to put the brakes on. How about relaxing and enjoying the ride? Dare I suggest that we all "chill" about language change?
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