Quote:
Originally Posted by Tcoat
Are many of the words we used all our life really any better than some of these?
"Cool" Is something really a lower temperature because people like it?
"Hot" Will you burn you fingers if you touch that really attractive girl.
"Man" Although technically accurate such things as "Hey man" is a bit impersonal.
Could go on and on but since we are used to those words we think they are fine. No doubt that people from 1920 would think that words we find normal were just as strange as we do now. Slang comes and goes.
Still hate "fitment" since it isn't really slang but people think it is a real word.
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Yes, there's always "the other side," and yes, despite your desire to play devil's advocate, I know you secretly agree with me.. <grin>.. or not...
Having said that, there's a bit of distinction between your examples and the ones I gave..
"Cool" has been around since the late 1940's, and grew out of a movement in jazz. It was a rejection of "hot" jazz.. notey, lots of embellishment, fast, complicated. "Hot," similarly, has been around since then and it, too, grew out of musical styles and idioms. "Man,".. yep.. it's been around a VERY long time, too. Unlike the other two terms, it's just a friendly colloquial way of introducting familiarity into a conversation. In the Syracuse, NY area, it's very common for a waitress or other service personnel to address a client as "honey." I don't like it, but it's a way to project friendliness. That's what "man" is, even when used in a difficult situation.. "Hey, man, get off my car!" has a greater chance to diffuse a bad situation than "Hey, butt nugget, get off my car!" At least with "Man," the offender feels respected.
I'm glad we agree on "fitment." As others have already stated, it IS a word, but doesn't exist in the context most use it in here on this forum.
I'm just having fun. "Partner" is another one that I wish hadn't "evolved." I have a partner in my airplane. Every time I refer to my partner, folks think I'm being homosexually unfaithful to my female wife.
I get your point, T. Yeah, I'm old... and yeah, I'm right.. <grin>.