# Cynical



## Chris (Jun 1, 2010)

Is the word Cynical being diluted out of existence? Not long ago it had a precise meaning. It described an unbelieving or even sneering scepticism about the motives of others. So whoever it was who said 'a philanthropist is a man who has trained himself to smile while his conscience picks his pocket' would have been accused of making a cynical remark. But then the word was widened to include any malicious action. So you would hear a football commentator rebuking a player for making 'a cynical tackle'. And now in today's paper an overspending government department has been accused of 'a cynical waste of taxpayers money', which dilutes the meaning even further.

I think Cynical is on the way out.


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## Dodecaplex (Oct 14, 2011)

I'm very cynical about the implications of this unprecedented phenomenon.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

This thread is going nowhere.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Klavierspieler said:


> This thread is going nowhere.


Is that cynicism or pessimism? Sometimes it's hard to tell. Or is cynicism always pessimistic?

Argh.


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## GoneBaroque (Jun 16, 2011)

It is both the root and the cause of an unfortunately cultural phenomenon known as "The Dumbing down Of The English Language brought about by some people, and I suspect largely the "Media" causing a word to mean whatever they think it should mean. Thus, not only is the word cynical on the way out but so is the entire English Language to be replaced by what may be called "People Speak".

This is definitely a Rant!


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Hilltroll72 said:


> Is that cynicism or pessimism? Sometimes it's hard to tell. Or is cynicism always pessimistic?
> 
> Argh.


Or is pessimism always cynical?

Hmmmmm.....


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

Language is a living thing that can evolve, so what cynicism meant generations ago is not what cynicism means now.


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## TresPicos (Mar 21, 2009)

regressivetransphobe said:


> Language is a living thing that can evolve, so what cynicism meant generations ago is not what cynicism means now.


I'm all for evolution, but I find myself a bit less "for" when it's driven by ignorance.


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

Chris said:


> Is the word Cynical being diluted out of existence?


Yes.

Many words lose their meaning through repetition and ignorant overuse. "Awesome" and "incredible" have lost all the power they once had. People will say "that is an awesome band", literally meaning "I like that band".

"Sentimental" is another such word. When, in 1725, Thomas Sterne, the author of _Tristram Shandy_, published his novel _A sentimental journey_, he was using the word to mean "relating to sentiment, or feeling, emotion". It now has a pejorative connotation, for which there were already good words, such as "maudlin" and "mawkish". There is now no word for what "sentimental" originally meant.

Is this a reflection on Western culture, which cannot address emotions and feelings other than in a caricatured, distorted way? I merely ask.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Jeremy Marchant said:


> Yes.
> [...]
> Is this a reflection on Western culture, which cannot address emotions and feelings other than in a caricatured, distorted way? I merely ask.


I don't know. Out in the back woods we try to avoid addressing emotions and feelings in _any_ way, because it's an invasion of privacy. When we have to it's straight on, because we know no other way. All of that is due to a lack of 'culture'.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

I think that very often, being cynical is just another way of saying that one is being realistic, be it of a positive or negative nature.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Jeremy Marchant said:


> Yes.
> 
> Many words lose their meaning through repetition and ignorant overuse. "Awesome" and "incredible" have lost all the power they once had. People will say "that is an awesome band", literally meaning "I like that band".
> 
> ...


I would have never thought that "sentimental" was on the way out!


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## TrazomGangflow (Sep 9, 2011)

People just need larger vocabularies. If more people read novels and good literature works they would have a varied vocabulary and not the the same word in a million different contexts. Our society supports things like television and video games which really doesn't do much for vocabulary. Another modern day example for people overusing a word and diluting its meaning is epic. Everything is epic nowadays, a good movie, a car or even a dishwasher. If people had larger vocabularies they would use the correct words for different situations.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

TrazomGangflow said:


> People just need larger vocabularies. If more people read novels and good literature works they would have a varied vocabulary and not the the same word in a million different contexts. Our society supports things like television and video games which really doesn't do much for vocabulary. Another modern day example for people overusing a word and diluting its meaning is epic. Everything is epic nowadays, a good movie, a car or even a dishwasher. If people had larger vocabularies they would use the correct words for different situations.


[Bzz Bzz]

"Epic dishwasher"? 

I have figured out that 'pessimistic' is restricted to contemplation of the (or at least a) future, and 'cynical' doesn't have that restriction; relieves some of the 'argh'.


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## TrazomGangflow (Sep 9, 2011)

Hilltroll72 said:


> [Bzz Bzz]
> 
> "Epic dishwasher"?
> 
> I have figured out that 'pessimistic' is restricted to contemplation of the (or at least a) future, and 'cynical' doesn't have that restriction; relieves some of the 'argh'.


That's an "epic" post "dude".


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