Lawrence from San Antonio, Texas, wonders if spelling is a factor in the different meanings of awful, which describes something negative, and awesome, which describes something positive. Spelling doesn’t come into play here; in fact, for years...
Travis in Bozeman, Montana, wonders why awesome feels positive while awful is negative, even though both come from awe. Awful is the older word, going back at least a thousand years, when it meant “full of awe,” commanding respect or reverential...
A Vermont caller feels the word awesome is overused to the point of being almost meaningless. There’s a term for that. It’s called semantic weakening. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Semantic Weakening of...
mean adj.— «“Mean” in Hawaii slang is like “awesome.”.. I think mainland slang says “sick” now a days (at least that’s how my hubby explains it).» —“From Debbie… hahahha… I mean, Denise...