ANDRE BEGIN

Is it just me or has the word “epic” become one of the most overused words in recent years?

My partner and I were just saying that we hear it so often over the course of an evening of television, if it was turned into a drinking game, we could be hammered by 7:45.

Whenever we hear it on TV, it’s now second nature for us to both say “eeepiiic” in mocking two-part harmony as if to say, “there’s that word again.”

In face-to-face situations where silence is golden, if the word is thrown around casually, we just glance at each other through our peripheral vision, my left eyebrow raises half an inch and he blinks in acknowledgement, both in the knowledge that our joint “epic” button has been pushed.

We hope that the word has almost run through its 15 minutes of fame, not only for reasons relating to its abundant repetition, but also for its questionable use.

The most obvious example of its unrestrained application is the marketing world’s description of things as “epic” to mean highly exciting, most enjoyable and absolutely unforgettable… a very high bar, isn’t it? That being the case, is its use justified at every commercial break?

When I consulted our trusty Merriam-Webster, I was surprised to hear that the word has been around since 1583, first referred to as “a long narrative poem in elevated style.”

This came as a surprise to me as my first memories of hearing the word was in the context of a larger-than-life movie, so I guess its use has already evolved from Shakespearian time.

But even as a young lad, I knew well enough that “epic” was like the Sunday dinner of words, used only sparingly, on special occasions, with fine dishes and silverware, and only when a superlative was truly called for.

Now the word is used like the super-convenient fast-food drive-through of our lexicon. Its cachet seems to have faded as it joins the ranks of everyday words with devalued significance.

Things touted as “epic” just don’t seem to live up to their own hype thus eliciting the strong reactions my partner and I have for it.

Who knows? Maybe it’s code for some other meaning that I don’t know about because I was busy getting a seniors’ discount somewhere when the decision to resurrect “epic” was voted in with a popular majority of younger voters.

As language evolves, as it always does, can we put our heads together and submit another word now to the Word Gods in preparation for the eventual retirement of “epic” if we can’t accelerate it?

Do we not have more colourful, more descriptive options, such as:

How about if we have dinner at (insert name of a marvelous restaurant)?
Response: That sounds delightful!

Would you like another glass of wine?
Response: That sounds sublime!

Or in a marketing situation: “Join us at (insert name of a grand event), guaranteed to be a magnificent evening.”

The consolation is the temporary nature of all things. I expect that its use will run its course at some point, as it did with “far out”, “groovy” and “rad.”

But if its current use is just the next etymological twist in the evolution of the word “epic” and the word is here to stay with its undervalued meaning, then we will just have to grin, bear and cringe through it.

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Have a great day,
André