Say what?

I'm always amazed at the resiliency of the English language, nay - its adaptability. Throughout generations, while speaking the same English language as a foundation, American society has molded and shaped it to conform to ever-changing social mores. Take World War I for instance (amazing how we put numerals after our global conflicts, like the Super Bowl or something - but that's another story). Soldiers coming back from the front were afflicted with "Shell Shock." I think that's pretty self-explanatory: being subjected to constant bombardment and the fear of losing one's life would certainly "shock" the life out of any human being. Then during World War II it evolved to "Battle Fatigue." Okay, it still makes sense: being subjected to constant bombardment and the fear of losing one's life would certainly cause fatigue and scare the life out of any human being. Fast forward to the Vietnam War - suddenly it was PTDSS, or "Post Traumatic Delayed Stress Syndrome." Sounds more like an illness or a disease, not a condition brought on by shells bursting and the likelihood of losing one's life.

Let's leave the war behind us and move on to the curious evolution of the English language. Maybe at this point I should refer to is as "vernacular." Back in the 60s everything was "cool" or "A-OK" (a reference to the emerging space program), or "dig it" (as in "I dig your shoes, man"), which was usually followed by "far out."

The 70s brought us slick disco and the base debauchery of Studio 54, "rock on," the "hustle" and "astro turf"." "Far out" was still being used and so was "cool."

Which brings us to the 80s. All that hair, metal bands, a conglomeration of "music videos," "new wave," and "punk rock" dictated how our music was played and enjoyed. "Smurf" was something small and blue, the "valley girls" brought us "gag me with a spoon," "spazz" and "like totally," while Reagan introduced us to "political correctness."

The 90s was somewhat "grungy," music was a little more "edgy," more "funk," disco was making a comeback but was (and still is) known as "clubbing."

The 21st century is upon us. It's fun watching the language evolve. It's brought us "desktop," "laptop" (computers, not tables or the place where the family cat likes to lay down on), "wireless" and "networking" (which is nothing more than human interaction). I'm still trying to digest "emo" and "trope." But by far my favorite so far is: "There's an app for that."

Like, totally...