By: Linda Sapadin
"Well, mom, what did you think of Marla?" Jason inquired.
"She seemed nice", said Mom.
"Oh no, you hated her," retorted Jason.
"What?" bellowed Mom. "I didn't say I hated her. I said she seemed nice."
"Only nice?"
"Yes, very nice."
"But you didn't think she was terrific."
"I only met her for 20 minutes. I don't know her very well. But nice is nice. I like nice. She was sweet and pleasant. Isn't that enough?
"You're just saying that. You didn't like her."
"No, I like her. What did you want me to say, that she was incredulous, wonderful, fantastic?"
"She was?"
"Okay, yes, she was. And I was absolutely thrilled that you brought her home so that I could meet her."
"Are you just saying that?"
"Jason, give me a break!"
"See, I told you you hated her."
I don't know when it happened that perfectly respectable adjectives like "nice" or "good" or "smart" no longer became good enough. Perhaps it happened when people decided they had to go to elaborate lengths to make their point, resulting in a smart kid becoming a "genius," a pretty girl becoming "drop dead gorgeous" and a rich guy becoming a "gazillionaire."
Perhaps word inflation just follows the inflation that has taken place in other aspects of our society. When 75% of students at Harvard receive an A, then a B+ becomes something to freak out about. When high school students are driving BMW's, then driving a used Ford becomes something to be embarrassed about.
Perhaps all of this inflation begins even earlier than we think in life. For instance, if Johnny goes tinkle on the potty and mommy is very, very proud and daddy is really, really thrilled and grandma buys her angel a totally special present for the occasion, then it makes it appear that superlatives are the only words that have any significance at all.
I, for one, would like to start a campaign to bring back the dignity of "regular" words. I think it's perfectly respectable for good to be good, nice to be nice, and fine to be fine; however, if on occasion, you absolutely, positively cannot resist the urge to verbally splurge, I will understand.
Linda Sapadin, Ph.D. is a really, really good psychologist in private practice who specializes in individual, family and couple therapy.
