There was a time when saying something was good was, well, good enough. Sometimes something was very good, or really good, and if it was even better it was very, very good.
How was the meal, sir? It was very good, thank you.
So what happened to good.
Well, the news is not good at all.
In the last 10-15 years, good was given the shaft and replaced with words that -when you think about it – could mean anything you like.
Now everything is amazing, fantastic, incredible, unbelievable, out of this world, extraordinary, outstanding, awesome, stellar, phenomenal, the list goes on.
But my two favourites are amazing and fantastic.
I think discovering a cure for cancer – all cancers – would be both fantastic and amazing.
So would the invention of time travel, landing on Mars and finding other civilisations in our solar system.
But if someone in your organisation does their job, for which they get paid well, that is not something that can be described by any of those words listed above.
And yet it happens a lot, both verbally and in writing on social media.
A local mayor of recent history had a massive penchant for “fantastic’’. Everything from council reports to outdoor events was fantastic.
I don’t think the poor fellow realised that he did it.
The problem is that the overuse of such adjectives has not only watered down their meaning but has also left us with nowhere to go when something truly fantastic happens.
Yes, this is a pedantic view, and people should be free to use any old words they blooming well like. Free speech and all that jazz.
OK, then, I’ll just list our Top 5 overused superlatives and get outta here.
Number 1. You guessed right, it’s fantastic.
Number 2. Right again – amazing.
Number 3. Awesome.
Number 4. Incredible.
Number 5. Unbelievable.