Society today, hey. Advertising, the media, airbrushing and diets. Maybe all our gripes and grimes boil down to this: we live in a world of superlatives and modal verbs. This is perhaps the most grammar-geekish thing I’ve ever written (let’s just not mention the apostrophe song, okay?) and if you are averse to a spot of language nerdiness you should probably look away now. But if you’re up for it, I’d love you to hear me out. Firstly, we need to hit the dictionary. I’m sorry to say that ‘superlatives’ are not heroes who fly around in too-tight-lycra, with a tendency to be late. Likewise, modal verbs aren’t the trendy cover girls of the thesaurus, who always know how to accessorise themselves with punctuation marks. (Semi colons are in, whilst commas and speech marks are sooo last chapter, or so I’ve heard!) No, now let’s get some things straight... Modal Verbs: Can, could, shall, should, may, might, must. They are small, unassuming words, but are crafty and persuasive little things if you ask me! They basically indicate a degree of possibility. Superlatives: These are adjectives, which describe something to be of the highest degree. The most, the least, the worst, the best. You get the gist. For example, Sweet, sweeter, sweetest. Little, less, least. Mean, meaner, meanest. (See – even cheesy chick flicks are hinged upon grammar!) Superlatives are the dangling carrots of the dictionary; they are the extremes that we strive for. They’re the Monica Gellers of language, fuelled by competitiveness to be the best. Now, when modal verbs and superlatives team up, the effect on the individual can be devastating. Particularly in the recent, less-than-feel-good-month of January. I don’t know about you, but I have found those niggly thoughts of comparing myself with others creeping in more and more. Comparisons with peers, pop-stars, pictures on posters, posts on Facebook, even to my old 2016 self! It’s unhelpful, unhealthy, but I’m going to be bold and assume that we all do it. At least to some extent, right? It’s in these self-doubts that our sneaky, grammatical tag-team pounces, slipping into our thoughts. ‘I could be doing so much more. I must try harder. She is the coolest. He is the smartest. I wish I was the most beautiful, the funniest, the kindest, the best.’ Apathy hits with may and might, as we fail to fulfil our possibilities. ‘I may do this today.’ But the evening draws in and our to-do lists remain unchecked. Failure rubs in our faces the fact that the satisfaction of striking a line through our tasks now belongs to tomorrow...or the next day. Which brings us round to the word that’s perhaps the worst of the lot: should. I should be able to do this. I should be able to cope. Everyone else can. And look where we are – back at comparing ourselves and striving for superlatives. This social media society, our habits of scrolling through Instagram and Facebook, the competitive – and, in my opinion, mistaken – way we wire our brains with regards to success. They all overuse the word should. They turn it into a feeling. The truth is we shouldn’t necessarily be able to do this. Not everyone else can cope either. Even the celebrities, the peers, the posters, the papers, the smiling Facebook pictures. They struggle, they feel inadequate and their to-do lists remain unchecked as well. Superlatives and modal verbs are indiscriminative in their work. You look at people and think ‘I should do what they’re doing. I could be more like them.’ And chances are, they are looking back at you and thinking the same thing.
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AuthorMegan Kate Chester Archives
June 2017
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