# What is this linguistic phenomenon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2021, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039 "2021-03-16T18:10:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/1 "2021-03-16T18:10:54Z")
I was griping today about the overuse of the term “gaslighting” which prompted a conversation about the broadening of a word’s definition to the point that it becomes almost meaningless. Examples used were “triggered” (another personal peeve) “literally” and “ironic.” Is this something that has happened linguistically throughout history, or is it a new phenomenon? Does it have a name, or are these examples all attributed to different things? I’d be interested in historic examples if anyone has them. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/2 "2021-03-16T18:15:33Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Is this something that has happened linguistically throughout history, or is it a new phenomenon? Does it have a name [“Broadening”, or “semantic generalization”](https://www.thoughtco.com/broadening-semantic-generalization-1689181). > [@](#): > > If a word’s meaning becomes so vague that one is hard-pressed to ascribe any specific meaning to it anymore, it is said to have undergone _bleaching_ . _Thing_ and _shit_ above are both good examples. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/3 "2021-03-16T18:42:55Z")
Maybe not broadening per se, but the meanings of words have often migrated to something completely different over time. Like your examples ‘literally’ which literally seems to be evolving to mean ‘figuratively’; and ‘ironic’ of which Alanis Morrisette may have singlehandedly begun its evolution from meaning ‘something that happens opposite of one’s expectation’ to ‘something bad or sad that happens’. ‘Sophisticated’ is generally a positive term meaning ‘enjoying and appreciating the finer things in life’, but it used to be a pejorative term meaning ‘deceptive and manipulative’. This can still be seen in the word ‘sophistry’ which has the same root : soph·ist·ry /ˈsäfəstrē/ _noun_ noun: **sophistry** 1. the use of fallacious arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving. “trying to argue that I had benefited in any way from the disaster was pure sophistry” - a fallacious argument. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/4 "2021-03-16T18:51:15Z")
A lot of words that originally meant something extreme one way or the other end up meaning “really good”. Great Fantastic Terrific Spectacular. Tremendous Sensational Awesome ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/5 "2021-03-16T18:55:06Z")
No political term has a meaning anymore. Liberal, conservative, libertarian, moderate, centrist, socialist, progressive, etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/6 "2021-03-16T19:00:07Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > really For example, “really”, which meant “like reality” but now is only an intensifier. And “very”, which meant “like truth”, but now also an intensifier. The word “literally” is following the same course. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/7 "2021-03-16T19:12:52Z")
> Never use the word, ‘very.’ It is the weakest word in the English language; doesn’t mean anything. If you feel the urge of ‘very’ coming on, just write the word, ‘damn,’ in the place of ‘very.’ The editor will strike out the word, ‘damn,’ and you will have a good sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/8 "2021-03-16T19:14:17Z")
As a writer, this is one of my favorite quotes. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/9 "2021-03-16T19:20:28Z")
A real good thing. And tomorrow… tomorrow’s gonna be a… real _good_ day! ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/10 "2021-03-16T19:28:32Z")
See, like all rules of thumb, I feel like there are as many exceptions as applications. 'Very" absolutely has its place: it has a different connotation than just using a stronger verb. It’s the “quite” of the proletariat. “Mama is very upset” means something different than “Mama is upset” or “Mama is outraged”. There’s no reason to throw the first sentence out. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/11 "2021-03-16T19:50:38Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > “Mama is very upset” means something different than “Mama is upset” or “Mama is outraged”. There’s no reason to throw the first sentence out. Sure, I agree. I think the quote is just a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that “very” tends to be overused, to the detriment of the language; it’s not meant to be taken literally. And speaking of literally, someone mentioned that it, too, was tending towards overuse as a generic intensifier. Its persistent use as a meaningless intensifier bugs me to a degree that is verging on irrational. It’s just so stupid. And I hate it when the old adage is trotted out that “great writers have been using it that way for hundreds of years”. No, they haven’t. When they use it in a figurative sense, it’s as an effective way of expressing the closeness of a metaphor to its literal counterpart, as in “she literally glowed with happiness”. But “my head literally exploded” is just asinine. Try it with your “mama is very upset” example. “Mama is literally upset” means she is standing on her head. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/12 "2021-03-16T20:13:59Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I was griping today about the overuse of the term “gaslighting” That’s one that annoys me, too. It now pretty much means “disagreeing with me”. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/13 "2021-03-16T20:48:51Z")
I hope this isn’t too much of a off-topic, but was there something that accelerated the term “gaslighting”? I know it is referencing an old movie, but [google trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=gaslighting) and [google ngram](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=gaslighting&year_start=1980&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=2) both start detecting a sharp rise starting in the 2012-2015 timeframe. I know I had never heard it before then. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/14 "2021-03-16T21:03:45Z")
I don’t know how old you are, but considering that the term goes back to a British play from 1938 and really got its current meaning from two US-American film adaptations (1940 and 1944, Wikipedia says) the change of meaning has really been fast. Accelerated even, as you write. That word must have hit a chord. The same Wikiarticle writes: > The term “gaslighting” has been used colloquially since the 1960s to describe efforts to manipulate someone’s perception of reality. So this change in meaning has happened in just 60 years. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/15 "2021-03-16T21:33:27Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > “Mama is very upset” means something different than “Mama is upset” or “Mama is outraged”. There’s no reason to throw the first sentence out. In fiction, I would strike the “very.” Mama is perturbed, upset, peeved, pissed off, outraged… So many better options. Words like “very” can also, I don’t know how to describe it… They can try to force you to feel something as a reader rather than just let you feel it. Let the reader decide how upset Mama is based on her appearance, behavior, etc. “Very” is just a bit of melodrama that waters down prose. What truly bores readers is repetition. They’ll put up with an occasional “very,” sure, but if you keep using vague modifiers over and over, they will get bored. That’s why these “rules” exist, not because they can never be broken, but because people who write boring prose tend to break them a lot. > [@Hermitian](#): > > I hope this isn’t too much of a off-topic, but was there something that accelerated the term “gaslighting”? I don’t know the answer, but I’ve seen a huge influx of clinical psychology terminology into the common parlance, and yes, I hate it. “Gaslighting” is the kind of thing your therapist would tell you that your abusive ex did that now has you questioning your own perception of reality years later. People also throw around the term “narcissist” - which, to be fair, clinically significant narcissism is on the rise in this country, but sometimes an asshole is just an asshole. And of course “triggered” no longer refers to textbook PTSD. It’s almost as if people think their pain has more validity if it is couched in these clinical terms. And I think we have a culture that elevates extreme language, perhaps due to social media or what have you. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/16 "2021-03-16T21:41:55Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > I hope this isn’t too much of a off-topic, but was there something that accelerated the term “gaslighting”? I know it is referencing an old movie, but [google trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=gaslighting) and [google ngram](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=gaslighting&year_start=1980&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=2) both start detecting a sharp rise starting in the 2012-2015 timeframe. > > I know I had never heard it before then. [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) says the [trump campaign in 2016](https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/gaslighting/) that led to its recent popularization. That matches my recollection, and (without leaving GQ territory) is a good use of term of the original in the sense of someone acting crazy but at the same time attempting to make you think _you_ are the crazy one. I’d also add Trolling as a similar term that had one very specific meaning (saying something very extreme and offensive online simply to get a reaction) and is now a catch-all term for being offensive and/or harassing online. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/17 "2021-03-16T21:56:03Z")
Hmm. That checks out. I tried to watch the film _Gaslight_ and it was sooo boring I don’t think we made it twenty minutes in. I just think of it in such extreme terms I guess. Like Picard screaming, “There are four lights!” I guess I should just quit griping and let language do its thing. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/18 "2021-03-16T22:10:10Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I guess I should just quit griping and let language do its thing. Now now, prescriptivist griping is an important part of linguistic evolution! Seriously: human beings are built not only to change the way we use words, but to create normative structures that resist changing the way we use words. Of course humans can’t stop language changing, but complaining about language changing is a crucial phenomenon in our development and understanding of language. The Prescriptivist Resistance: Loudly Losing Every Battle Since 150,000 BCE. (“B.C.!!”) ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/19 "2021-03-16T23:10:46Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > In fiction, I would strike the “very.” Mama is perturbed, upset, peeved, pissed off, outraged… So many better options. Words like “very” can also, I don’t know how to describe it… They can try to force you to feel something as a reader rather than just let you feel it. Let the reader decide how upset Mama is based on her appearance, behavior, etc. “Very” is just a bit of melodrama that waters down prose. But crafting narrative fiction is a really small portion of language use. Even within fiction, “Mama is very upset” might be the best dialog choice, and outside of fiction, there are a million circumstances where the nuance of “very upset” is the one you were looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039/20 "2021-03-16T23:48:57Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > But crafting narrative fiction is a really small portion of language use. Even within fiction, I’m talking about prose specifically. I always think of that quote when I write something like “falling down” or “rather” or “suddenly.” It’s really not about the word “very” to me, it’s about all the stupid things I do to water down my own prose. It forces me to be more intentional about my word choices. That quote has made me a better writer. There are always exceptions. I’m reading a book now with a narrative voice full of filler words, but it’s successful at grounding the reader in character, and it works. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linguistic-phenomenon/938039.md?page=2)