Do you think this principle is at play in the loss of meaning of words in public discourse as well? I'm thinking of the overuse of racist, fascist, Hitler, etc. These have been thrown around with such frequency, and in so many inappropriate places, that they've become caricatures.
I had not considered that, but it makes perfect sense. It seems completely obvious that many people, especially younger ones without historical context, do not get the full impact of "Fascist." And the other words you mentioned, too. Know what, James? Pondering that actually makes me feel better.
My favorite childhood example is "super" in the 1970s, everything was so "super" until "super" really had little meaning. Later it was "cool" and "bad" - whatever that meant to the speaker's in-group at that moment. "Cool" and "bad" actually became a joke by the late 1980s when people realized that they had become meaningless, as reflected in songs from Huey Lewis and others.
As to the origin of a sort of alienation from words by overthinking, I recall that St. Augustine discussed it in On Christian Doctrine, saying if you think about a word, you will find that you don't really know what the word means (St. Augustine was a rhetoric teacher in Milan before moving to Hippo). He thereafter extended the concept to danger in the translation of texts and that no one knows what anyone really means.
The context of this was that I had a graduate Rhetorical Theory class at Duquesne University long ago and our reading of St. Augustine was on the issue of Rhetorical Theory. So we read the parts that contained his discussion of rhetoric, language, and translations of texts.
Fanatical elements in the early Church wanted to discard all "pagan" arts, but St. Augustine argued against it, saying that any pagan art repurposed for Christianity was not offensive. Specifically, he sought to repurpose Rhetoric for the priesthood.
Already a big fan of Maryan (I'm a poet who doesn't know it). One of the very, very few writing "advisors" I pay attention to, so I also recommend Pen2Profit and now I need to make sure I do that via Susbstack's recommend process. I do, don't I? Well, if not, I shall correct that.
Regarding this specifically: I am finding I challenge my readers frequently with such words as "mendacity" and "malfeasance" and "malodorous" in my political writing. (Checks notes): Ooops, not "malodorous." Corrections shall be made.
Do you think this principle is at play in the loss of meaning of words in public discourse as well? I'm thinking of the overuse of racist, fascist, Hitler, etc. These have been thrown around with such frequency, and in so many inappropriate places, that they've become caricatures.
I had not considered that, but it makes perfect sense. It seems completely obvious that many people, especially younger ones without historical context, do not get the full impact of "Fascist." And the other words you mentioned, too. Know what, James? Pondering that actually makes me feel better.
My favorite childhood example is "super" in the 1970s, everything was so "super" until "super" really had little meaning. Later it was "cool" and "bad" - whatever that meant to the speaker's in-group at that moment. "Cool" and "bad" actually became a joke by the late 1980s when people realized that they had become meaningless, as reflected in songs from Huey Lewis and others.
As to the origin of a sort of alienation from words by overthinking, I recall that St. Augustine discussed it in On Christian Doctrine, saying if you think about a word, you will find that you don't really know what the word means (St. Augustine was a rhetoric teacher in Milan before moving to Hippo). He thereafter extended the concept to danger in the translation of texts and that no one knows what anyone really means.
The context of this was that I had a graduate Rhetorical Theory class at Duquesne University long ago and our reading of St. Augustine was on the issue of Rhetorical Theory. So we read the parts that contained his discussion of rhetoric, language, and translations of texts.
Fanatical elements in the early Church wanted to discard all "pagan" arts, but St. Augustine argued against it, saying that any pagan art repurposed for Christianity was not offensive. Specifically, he sought to repurpose Rhetoric for the priesthood.
Already a big fan of Maryan (I'm a poet who doesn't know it). One of the very, very few writing "advisors" I pay attention to, so I also recommend Pen2Profit and now I need to make sure I do that via Susbstack's recommend process. I do, don't I? Well, if not, I shall correct that.
Regarding this specifically: I am finding I challenge my readers frequently with such words as "mendacity" and "malfeasance" and "malodorous" in my political writing. (Checks notes): Ooops, not "malodorous." Corrections shall be made.
Thank you for the extreme compliment, Charles! And btw I can think of at least 1,000 current uses for those words. You use them particularly well.
Thanks back at you. I was shocked that you weren’t on my recommended list (I just checked now). Corrected!
ditto. What the heck?
We're all good now and the world (the writing world, at least) is now as it should be. :-)
Thank you for this Maryan. Interesting - and a tricky idea. Time intervals must be important.
Habit formation (think good habits) is strengthened (unlike satiation) with repetition assuming adequate intervals between repetition.
It's interesting how those things imprint on the brain. And then think about how long it takes to break a bad habit. Sheesh.
Fun
Tariffs. DEI. Waste, fraud, and abuse. Winning.
Semantic Satiation indeed.
Really interesting work here!