Stupidity is a word that appears often as a general intensifier: “Bring me the stupid hammer.” In fact, such usage is the topic of this post: the stupidity of using words senselessly.
“Stupid” is derived from a Latin word for being knocked senseless. Sadly, such trauma isn’t even necessary to evoke what passes for English now. I don’t know if things were ever better in English and I assume that every language has the same malevolent aberrations. I call it “grunt & point” English, as though one were pointing at the salt and uttering “Ugh!” instead of “Pass the salt, please.” When confronted (which only happens when a parent corrects a child), the offender offers “Oh, you know what I mean.” And indeed I do: pointing at the salt and uttering “Ugh!” would indicate clearly that the speaker wishes for me to pass the salt. And having studied Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, and German, I have enough linguistic facility to decipher such barbarity as: And I was like, “Duhhh,” and he was like, “Really?” and I was like, “Dude!” and he was like, “HellO?” and I was like, “Come ON,” and he was like, “AWKward,” and I was like . . . you get the idea. But the fact that I can decipher it does not lessen its stupidity.
Today I decided to read up on how to plant a tree. I came across this statement: As you look around town at well formed and healthy trees, invariably you will discover that the root flare is exposed. It isn’t important that you understand what a root flare is, or what its benefit is. Just read the claim as it lies, noticing the word “invariably.” That word means “there are no exceptions.” But the next sentence in the article said There are always exceptions to the rule. In other words, there are no exceptions except when there are exceptions. The writer should have said “usually” instead of “invariably.” And if he were to object with the defense “Well, you know what I meant,” I would point at my previous paragraph and utter “Ugh!” He used the word “invariably” with stupid disregard (or ignorance) of its meaning. The meaning was of no more significance than “Ugh! would have been; it’s just a placeholder.
Reading that barbarism this morning reminded me of a letter to the editor that I read in a magazine years ago. A woman gushed that she enjoyed the magazine a lot and her young son did, too. In fact, “He literally devours each issue as soon as I bring in the mail.” I needn’t explain to you that “literally” is exactly what she did not mean.
You: Oh, you know what she meant.
Me: Ugh!
The very word “barbarism” is enlightening. It referred originally to the unintelligibility of a foreigner’s speech, as though it sounded like “bar bar bar bar.” Now it refers generally to an inability to conduct oneself according to traditional standards. Verbal stupidity is a kind of barbarism: using words not for their meaning, but just as meaningless sounds which get the listener’s attention and help, along with gestures, intonation, facial expression, and the situation generally, to convey the speaker’s intention.