We are living through a trend of epic stuff lately. Epic movies, epic music, epic stories, epic lives. But, what is it really? The dictionary puts it down as: heroic, majestic, impressive, spectacular, or unusual size or extent. Not much help for the modern trend. I'd say that the way it's used these days is to describe anything with bombast, aplomb, or just hyped up. Epic has turned into slang for anything that people really like.
Our English language adapts, changes, and evolves with use. I've shed many tears over words that have terrific meanings but have either fallen from common use, or changed far beyond their original meanings. It's a shame, but I do understand why it happens. Still, a word like "epic" loosing its focus and becoming a synonym for "like" makes me sad. Words have more than meaning, they have flavor and subtlety that makes them special. Imagine the word "tender" becoming another word for "good"? However, the language continues growing and words come about to fill the gaps.
One thing that will help in this area is for people to improve their vocabularies. The average adult has a woefully small vocabulary. It's sad, truly sad, that adults don't pick up dictionaries every now and again and look up a better word. We teach our children to read, use the language properly, and tell them to use proper grammar. When was the last time we did the same? Does learning stop at adulthood? It shouldn't.
So, get out there and learn a new word!
- M
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