The trend in everyday conversation is to use grandiose1 words. Outstanding is new good, amazing is the new OK, and huge is the new big.
I was in a restaurant in D.C. last weekend and everything I asked was answered in superlatives.
Me: How s the salmon2?
Server: Fantastic!
Me: Does it come with rice?
Server: Absolutely!
Would a good and a yes have been sufficient? Undeniably!
At Starbucks, the smallest coffee you can order is a Tall. Tall would seem to indicate that there was also a short and medium, with Tall being the largest. But at Starbucks, Tall is small. Grande, which is both Italian and Spanish for large, is medium.
Likewise, at your local 7-Eleven you cannot buy a small: Your choices are Big Gulp3, Super Gulp and Extremely Big Gulp. OldBananaNavyGap also did away with the small. You cannot buy anything from the chain stores that is really a small. My father is an average-sized man. He hasn t gained weight for the past 30 years. Ergo, his size remains4 the same. But in the same amount of time, his T-shirt size has gone from small/medium to medium to large to extra large.
Upon reflection, the reason for all this colossal-speak is clear: We are bored with our fantastic, wonderful lives. We want the next-next thing now. Now!
And we also want others to think that we still care, that we can still be delighted, that we know that everything is just GREat. Even when deep inside we know it can t be. Everything can t be great. Hence, we live in a world where extreme is ordinary, where radical5 is quotidian6; exceptional is pedestrian. And to not be overly delighted by the mundane7 is appalling8. It s horrific. And, Dude, that s heinous9.
I m not scientist, and my methods of proof leave a little to be desired, or a lot to be desired, or an immensity. An to be honest, I guess I d rather live in a world where people were overly excited than depressed10.
But listen to the voices around you. Listen to your own voices. There is nothing on the news that is good or bad, only things that are wonderful or devastating11. Even the weather is either beautiful or horrible.
Listen the next time when someone asks you something and you aGREe, because when you could simply say yes, instead you will say absolutely or without doubt or Oh, yeah, unquestionably - absolutely without doubt.
Have people forgotten what it is like to be OK? Simply OK with what they have and who they are?
If everything is outstanding, if everything is the most amazing thing ever, is anything ever amazing at all
一篇真的出类拔萃的文章：夸大其词
用词浮夸是现在平时会话的时髦。出类拔萃代替了好，不可思议代替了很好，巨大代替了大。
上周末我去哥伦比亚特区的一家饭店，我的每个问题得到的回答全是最高级的修饰语。
我：鲑鱼如何？
服务生：妙不可言！来源：考试大
我：带米饭吗？
服务生：千真万确！
说一个好和一个是的够不够？毋庸置疑嘛！
在Starbucks咖啡馆，你能点到的最小份的咖啡叫高杯。这好像意味着还有矮杯和中杯，高杯该为最大杯。可是在Starbucks，高杯却是小杯。豪华--- 这个词在乎大利语和西班牙语中是大的意思 --- 才是中杯。
同样地，你在当地的7-Eleven便民店里也买不到小杯咖啡：供选择的只有大杯、超大杯和特大杯。OldBananaNavyGap商店也废除去小号。在它的连锁店你买不到真的的小号。我爸爸是中等体形，他的体重在过去三十年没增加过。所以他的身体尺寸没变化。可是在同样长的时间里，他的T恤尺寸却从小 / 中号增至中号、大号、加强号。
回头想想，这种夸大其词是什么原因非常明了：大家对精彩、美妙的生活已经厌倦。大家目前想要的是将来之将来的东西。目前就要！
同时，大家想让其他人觉得大家仍然在乎生活，仍然可以兴高采烈，觉得大家了解所有都是那样美好。就算在内心深处大家了解这不可能。不可能每件事都妙不可言。由此以来，大家生活在如此一个世界：极度等于平凡，极端等于普通，非凡等于一般。而对一般事物若不是感到非常高兴就成了骇人听闻。太恐怖了。啊，让人发指。
我不是专家，我的证明办法有一些，可能多，或巨大的待改进之处。坦白地说，我想我也宁可活在一个大家激动过分而不是垂头丧气的世界里。
但听听你周围的声音吧。听听我们的心里话。从新闻中听不到任何好或坏的消息，只有一些要么美妙之极，要么糟糕透顶的东西。连天气都变成了或漂亮或恐怖。
当下次有人问你什么而你表示赞同的时候，你注意听听，由于本来你可以简单地说声是的，可你却会说绝对这样或毫无疑问或哦，是啊，无可争议绝对地毫无疑问。
难道大家已经忘了好是哪种吗？忘了什么是过得还很好、自己是哪个了吗？假如所有都成了出类拔萃，假如每件事都是让人无比诧异，那还有无让人诧异一说呢？
