Wordmistress, ever vigilant on the watchtowers of correct expression, has spied yet another verbal trespasser.
This intruder does not lurk. It strides straight through conversation, clobbering perfectly acceptable statements of being with an unnecessary and exaggerated flair.
Why, she wonders, has it become necessary to express oneself in terms of the extreme? To what far domains have clarity and simplicity fled?
One hears now that a friend is “beyond thrilled” about a pending expedition to Antarctica. One is “beyond excited” about a upcoming visit from “super good” friends. Wordmistress heard a government official on the television recently describe himself as “beyond honored” to be at a particular function. Despite pondering this phrase for some time, WM can think of nothing beyond the state of being honored, unless one is being canonized, and she doubts that is what the overspoken gentleman meant.
The generally benign word “beyond” has been plucked from the calm waters of ordinary usage and tossed into the turbulence of over-emphasis and exaggeration. What state, WM muses, lies beyond excited? Rapturous hysteria? Frenzied ebullience? Is simply stating that one is excited not sufficient? Too tame? Too prosaic?
Evidently, in today’s atmosphere of who can be more out-of-the-ordinary, unconventional, exotic, or bizarre, speech must hyper-extend to keep up. The culture is awash in exclamation points. Whatever you think or however you may feel, there will likely be someone nearby who will let it be known that the intensity of their thoughts or feelings far exceed yours.
The current trend to overstate is exhausting. (Note how simply, how precisely WM conveys her condition.) Wordmistress longs for the day when one could express ones sentiments without superfluity.
Nevertheless, Wordmistress soldiers on, determined to help save the language from infinity and beyond.