While our grandparents' generation has earned the epitaph of "The Greatest Generation" on the basis of everyday conversations between friends about our typical situations, it is quite likely that our generation will be deemed "The Awkwardest Generation."
No longer used exclusively at Dartmouth to describe freshmen in fraternity basements, the word "awkward" has become strangely faddish, overheard everywhere across campus from Dartmouth Hall to the Hop to Baker Library. Several weeks ago, while enjoying dinner at Food Court, a friend referred to his broccoli side dish as "really awkward." A foot had to be put down at that moment. The excessive use of "awkward" must cease.
"Awkward" is used so often these days in so many different contexts that the word has essentially lost all its meaning. Friends vigorously debate each other to determine who earns the superlative of "most awkward," as if the distinction were a badge of honor. Nearly 500 Dartmouth students have proudly declared their personal awkwardness on a College Facebook group. When the same single word can characterize an eighth of the Dartmouth student body as well as a green vegetable similar to the cauliflower, its meaning becomes fuddled. If the definition of awkward becomes distorted, what word will be left to describe middle school dances?
Overall, with regard to language, our generation needs to avoid using euphemisms and instead use more descriptive vocabulary that effectively conveys the appropriate meaning. A dangling modifier is not awkward, just poor grammar. When a female student you have never met before passes you on fourth floor Berry and recognizes her Facebook profile beaming from your computer screen, the situation is creepy, not awkward.
Similarly, the opposite of awkwardness is not suavity; it's confidence. Awkwardness is often a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you assume that a situation will be awkward, you will become tongue-tied and act abnormally, making the occasion admittedly uncomfortable. As more students conform to the fad of being awkward, more unnecessary awkward situations will arise, convincing additional students that they are awkward themselves. The vicious cycle must be broken.
Granted, as long as human beings interact with each other, genuine awkwardness will inevitably arise. Even the great works of literature chronicle the awkwardness inherent in the human condition (read: Oedipus). Awkwardness also peppers the annals of history. After African-American Jesse Owens won gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, Hitler must have thought, "Boy, this is awkward."
Why has "awkward" become overused? The trend highlights an encouraging cultural shift. While college guides cite Dartmouth for its sizable population of "closet nerds," today, such students, including myself, can "come out of the closet" in a receptive atmosphere. Formerly, the likes of Screech Powers and Steve Urkel were mocked for their unattractive social ineptitude, becoming targets of ridicule and innumerable wedgies. Nowadays, society "hearts nerds" as posters of "The O.C.'s" Seth Cohen and other similarly awkward characters are plastered to bedroom walls. "Awkward" has become the new "cool."
Stereotypical characteristics that previously defined the socially clumsy are now ubiquitous in American culture. Thick-rimmed glasses that rival those of Buddy Holly have become stylish. Video games are no longer the pastime merely of antisocial teenage boys. Despite the stigma of the fantasy genre, the youth today wildly embraces the dungeons, dragons and wizardry of "The Lord of the Rings," "Harry Potter" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" fantasy films. Once-dorky phrases "gosh" and "flipping sweet" are recent additions to the American lexicon with the astonishing popularity of "Napoleon Dynamite" and its tale of the triumph of social underdogs over the "cool kids." In a refreshing respite from the Scott Petersons and the Paris Hiltons of the world, the game show "Jeopardy!" in 2004 produced an unusual American celebrity -- record-breaking contestant Ken Jennings -- who captured both the attention and admiration of the nation. American culture is experiencing the "revenge of the nerds."
All trends balloon to a point of excessiveness that causes a backlash. With the ascension of "nerd culture" into mainstream society, the omnipresent use of awkward must be reduced to curb the misrepresentation of our lives. Our generation need not be "The Awkwardest Generation." In fact, "awkwardest" is not even a word. Boy, this is rather... embarrassing.
