The Lexicon Divide

Nearing 80, I am hard pressed to learn the new lexicon to converse with the younger generation,   Gen X and Millennials (Google it out to find their difference, if you wish!)

 A formal greeting like “How are you”, is replied with” I am good”, which is like the person giving him/herself a character certificate!  I would have expected the simple “Thank you, I am well. How are you”?

 

That we are not in sync with each other is now expressed by the phrase “we are not on the same page”. I ask, Are we as if reading a book together? Like what we used to call, Combined Study (a euphemism for jolly good time spent with a friend) during our school days?

Then there is this word “space” which I have understood   mainly in the context of interplanetary or galaxy. Today it is used in several other contexts like culture, heritage and even diplomacy. I would prefer the simple and elegant “place”, but then there is no place (or is it space) for the good old King’s /Queen’s English anymore!

The word “shut’ has almost replaced the word “close”. We used the word Shut only and very exclusively to stop a person from crapping, and said   Shut Up. Not close up perhaps to escape from his bad breath!  In our days markets and schools were closed rather than shut on holidays.

Your stand on an issue is now what your “Call” is and therefore when one says he will take a Call, don’t be confused thinking he is answering a phone call.

Now a days many youngsters work” out of” their homes, meaning their offices are their homes. The phrase “out of “if followed by a noun has different meanings. For instance, when you say out of place, you mean incongruence / non- conformity or like out of stock means unavailability.

 Offices are now “work stations” and one’s department there is a “vertical”. “Analytics” is the bug word for the good old data analysis.

There must be a lot more of such words/expressions used by the youngsters which I can learn if I talk with them.  But then many of them avoid meeting and talking with me as my conversational language is not on their page.