Yet another tragically misused heavy hitter of a word wasted in this softball language of ours today is weird. The uninformed mistake weird for either 'strange' and 'unusual' or 'crazy' and 'madcap'. In any case, it is used as a toss-off adjective, dismissively (if not derisively), without mystery or respect and almost never as a noun or a verb. I include the word as evidence not of linguistic evolution, but of degeneration.
Whereas I have been called weird almost since I can remember, I can still count on the fingers of but one hand the folks who could tell me what weird means and /or accurately identify my weirdness. As for the hundreds of others, I will not flatter myself or attempt to quantify the value, if any, of their various and similar diagnoses.
Weird derives from the Old English noun -wyrd, meaning 'fate' or 'destiny', although its deepest root, the ancient Proto-Indoeuropean verb, -wert, 'to turn, to wind', is the source of our modern verb -to become. By way of the Old English -weorðan and German -werden (to become), both clear cognates of weird, arises that fateful synonymity of becoming
and turning into. For example: "And lo, with a whimper and croak, the prince was turned into a frog."
Once upon a time, the word was spoken with a reverence and a trepidation more becoming to its meaning. It was the province of wizards to work with such forces as destiny - which also explains the 'Weird Sisters' moniker given to The Three Fates. Although nowadays there is little respect for the power of words, weird reminds us of the quasi-magical origin of language itself, nothing less than a technology and not one to be trifled with or taken for granted.
Witches and wizards don't take center stage often nor for very long, preferring to operate behind the scenes while preserving an air of mystery. Yet as inconspicuous as they try to be, they stick out like a sore thumb - they do not and cannot blend in among the common folk. Strangely, the reason weird is mistaken for variations of creepy or crack-pot, eccentric or insane, is due exactly to the striking and uncanny image that they present to the world (and that just might get them burned at the stake in many a time and a place).
Thus, the word is now applied to those who merely seem weird (and who are legion) and not to those who actually are weird
(and who are rare), incorrectly. I regard it as a compliment to be called weird, and yet I avoid using the word myself, or at least using it first in any conversation. By using it correctly, in the sense of having 'the power to control fate', the benefit is twofold: my respect for the language deepens and I become just a bit more weird in the bargain.
Whereas I have been called weird almost since I can remember, I can still count on the fingers of but one hand the folks who could tell me what weird means and /or accurately identify my weirdness. As for the hundreds of others, I will not flatter myself or attempt to quantify the value, if any, of their various and similar diagnoses.
Weird derives from the Old English noun -wyrd, meaning 'fate' or 'destiny', although its deepest root, the ancient Proto-Indoeuropean verb, -wert, 'to turn, to wind', is the source of our modern verb -to become. By way of the Old English -weorðan and German -werden (to become), both clear cognates of weird, arises that fateful synonymity of becoming
and turning into. For example: "And lo, with a whimper and croak, the prince was turned into a frog."
Once upon a time, the word was spoken with a reverence and a trepidation more becoming to its meaning. It was the province of wizards to work with such forces as destiny - which also explains the 'Weird Sisters' moniker given to The Three Fates. Although nowadays there is little respect for the power of words, weird reminds us of the quasi-magical origin of language itself, nothing less than a technology and not one to be trifled with or taken for granted.
Witches and wizards don't take center stage often nor for very long, preferring to operate behind the scenes while preserving an air of mystery. Yet as inconspicuous as they try to be, they stick out like a sore thumb - they do not and cannot blend in among the common folk. Strangely, the reason weird is mistaken for variations of creepy or crack-pot, eccentric or insane, is due exactly to the striking and uncanny image that they present to the world (and that just might get them burned at the stake in many a time and a place).
Thus, the word is now applied to those who merely seem weird (and who are legion) and not to those who actually are weird
(and who are rare), incorrectly. I regard it as a compliment to be called weird, and yet I avoid using the word myself, or at least using it first in any conversation. By using it correctly, in the sense of having 'the power to control fate', the benefit is twofold: my respect for the language deepens and I become just a bit more weird in the bargain.
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as you can probably have guessed I have been called "weird" my entire life also... "You're so weird" is the soft delivery with the slight shake of the head from people like my sisters who believe everything on MSNBC and that vaccines are nutritious....
ReplyDeleteTake it as a compliment to you, and a complement to idiot. Cheers.
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