April 23, 2024 – Andy is here in today’s OurLittleCorner.
Ann and I went out for dinner the other night to a new restaurant in town. As soon as we were seated the waiter came to our table and asked if we preferred still or sparkling water. When I said sparkling he replied enthusiastically, “Awesome!” Even though the young man turned out to be an attentive and personable waiter, his “awesome” response bugged me. Did he think we would be awestruck by the bottle of Pellegrino he placed on the table? Or was it that my requesting sparkling over still water was such a momentous decision that I became an object of his awe? Whatever the reason, I found his use of the term for such a pedestrian action to be annoying.
I should explain that my irritation with this flippant use of “awesome” came on the heels of listening to The Transformative Power of Awe, an NPR podcast recommended by our daughter Sara. The podcast is a conversation with Dacher Keltner, a U. C. Berkeley psychologist who recently published a book entitled “Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your LIfe.” Keltner discusses not only what his research (conducted in 28 different countries!) reveals about the kinds of things that inspire awe, but how we physiologically respond to those awe-inspiring things.
Keltner’s research identifies “eight wonders of life” which can instill awe. Each, in its own way, can be characterized as being “larger than life” and beyond our comprehension. Keltner provides a detailed discussion of these “wonders” in his book; I’ll merely list them here (note: not all awe-inspiring phenomena are necessarily positive – think earthquakes, hell, wildfires):
- the moral beauty of others
- collective movement
- nature
- visual design
- music
- spirituality
- big ideas
- encountering the beginning and end of life.
According to Keltner (and a host of other researchers), being in a state of awe is not just an abstract notion. It can be objectively measured similar to the way scientists measure the presence of fear or anger in humans. Here’s what to expect when experiencing awe:
- activation of the vargus nerve which wanders from the top of the spinal cord through the throat, heart, lungs, and digestive organs
- slower heart rate
- eyes welling up with tears
- a goose-tingling sensation in the arms and at the back of the neck
- facial muscle movements, including raised inner eyebrows, widened eyes, and an open and slightly drop-jawed mouth
- vocalizations such as “wow” or “whoa”
A crucial point about awe for Keltner is that it is highly beneficial to our mental and physical well-being. Research shows that it can calm our nerves and release oxytocin, the “love” hormone that promotes trust and bonding.
This brings me back to why I was so grumpy about our waiter’s “awesome!” Clearly in that moment of choosing sparkling over still water, none of the above-mention characteristics or effects of awe were in evidence – to my knowledge my vargus nerve wasn’t activated, I didn’t experience a slightly drop-jawed mouth, oxytocin wasn’t released, and the incident certainly didn’t transform my life.
In defense of our well-intentioned waiter, he is far from being alone in abusing this semi-sacred bit of vocabulary. And in defense of myself, I’m not alone in being rankled when hearing the term abused. I discovered this when I came across a 2019 post on OpenCulture.com by Colin Marshall, Why David Sedaris Hates America’s Favorite Word, “Awesome“.
David Sedaris, one of my favorite humorists, ranted about this in his book Calypso (which I confess to having not yet read). In the book he claims that the most often used word in America, “hands-down, is ‘awesome,’ which has replaced ‘incredible,’ ‘good,’ and even ‘just OK.’ Pretty much everything that isn’t terrible is awesome in America now.”
Colin Marshall nicely sums up Sedaris’s gripe:
“What once denoted a sight or experience filled with the emotion of “dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime” has become, in Sedaris’s view, a synonym for “fine.”
If you have not (or have) had the pleasure of hearing David Sedaris I am including the below YouTube excerpt from his audiobook Calipso where he discusses the most often used word in America. While technically Sedaris’s delivery can’t be called “awesome,” his dialogue is pretty damn funny.
A final etymological note. While searching for information about the origins of the word awesome, I came across this fascinating question on Quora: Why does “awful” mean “terrible” but “awesome” means “wonderful,” since they both have the same root word? The connection between these two terms had never occurred to me. According to “Assistant Bot” (who or whatever that is):
The words “awful” and “awesome” both have their roots in the word “awe” …
“Awful” originally meant “full of awe” in the sense of being awe-inspiring or worthy of respect, but its meaning shifted over time to convey something that is extremely bad or unpleasant. On the other hand, “awesome” has retained its original meaning of inspiring awe or wonder. So, while both words have the same root, their meanings have diverged over time due to changes in usage and cultural context.
So that’s it. Let me know if you had an awesome experience reading about all of this. Don’t bother to let me know if you thought it was an awful experience.