With this post I officially inaugurate a campaign against the overusage of the word ‘wonderful’ in the Krishna consciousness movement.
The term is so ubiquitously presented, so monotously applied, that such prodigality defeats the very purpose and intention of the adjective, that is, to point out how special a person or behavior is.
Every devotee is wonderful. Every culinary preparation is wonderful. Every service in wonderful… If everything is wonderful in one sense nothing is really wonderful. Does everything really warrant an intense condition of wonderment?
On the rare occasion in which someone introduces me as “a wonderful devotee,” the initial rush of self-importance is mitigated by the sobering realization that anybody could and would be introduced with the same customary commendation.
The situation reminds me of the cynical saying: “You are unique; just like everyone else.”
“But devotees are indeed wonderful!” you might retort, and would have to agree with you; but, if they truly are so wonderful, don’t they deserve a little more linguistic fantasy, a little creativity in describing their wonderfulness and extraordinary accomplishments?
The dictionary defines ‘wonderful’ as “exciting a feeling of wonder; marvellous or strange [forget about the strange, which in this context is irrelevant]; extremely fine; excellent.” Marvellous devotees should inspire an expanded lexicon for glorifying their qualities and deed.
Why not saying that a devotees is extraordinary and his service is admirable? Why not declare that he is fantastic and his contributions are awe-inspiring? And what about amazing, astonishing, astounding, awesome, phenomenal, remarkable, staggering, startling, wondrous, brilliant, dazzling or flaming? Why not brilliant, excellent, fabulous, magnificent, marvellous, outstanding, sensational, stupendous, super, superb, terrific, tiptop, fulgent, lucent, tremendous? Do you have anything against charming, delightful, exquisite, gorgeous, graceful, handsome, noble, lovely, radiant, ravishing, stunning, refulgent, resplendent, shining or splendid?
And you can find many more expressions to communicate your wonder at the high caliber of character and the exemplary standard of dedication of the superlative servants of Lord Caitanya.
I sense that 'wonderful' is being forced to be so all-pervasive that lost all its wonder; a wonderful word has become hackneyed and predictable, a word that should evoke feelings of excitement and awe is quickly becoming inflationed, unimaginative and boring.
PS – if you don’t agree with me, you can tell me that this post was wonderful.
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2 comments:
not just another word
i'd prefer an explanation why a person, dish, or whatever is "wonderful," not just another word with the same or a similar meaning. if it was explained why a devotee is wonderful, or a prasadam preparation, i could live with the word.
on the other hand, if another word is used with the same pro-forma meaning, i won't like it any better than "wonderful."
ys phani.
this comment has been posted at namahatta.org, where the 'ISKCONoclast' RSS feed is being imported, by vaisnavi rani mataji:
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This article made me think about how we often use English words or adjectives in order to describe an attititude or characteristic instead of using our own local language. Another adjective that is certainly overused in a very monotonous way is the word "nice."
This is typical English devotee language. If we would speak in our own language, we would rarely use the words "wonderful" or " nice." But in ISKCON we learn to take over the English devotee language and start using English words or English terms instead of using our own language. So it happens that devotees say a whole sentence in German, but use an English adjective like "nice" in order to express how they perceive another person.
I also do not like this and am grateful that there are communication seminars in ISKCON where we learn to use our own language again and to communicate with each other in a more personal way.
Thank you for this article.
Your servant, Vaisnavi Rani d.d.
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