I was watching a CNN segment on the iPad—CNN had nonstop iPad coverage for three days straight—and the anchor asked the tech expert, “Is the iPad revolutionary?”
The tech expert replied, “The word ‘revolutionary’ is always so over-hyped.”
That’s a funny linguistic error, isn’t it? The guy meant to say something along the lines of, “Calling the iPad ‘revolutionary’ would be over-hyping it, but that sort of over-hyping is common with product releases such as these.”
Rarely is a word over-hyped. (i.e., “I’m telling you, this word, ‘revolutionary,’ is going to be huge. People will use it to describe insurrections, advancements and silly little gizmos. Tell Mr. Webster to reserve a full page in his book for this one because ‘revolutionary’ is going to change the English language as we know it!”)
Related: I correct my friends’ language like this, too. I think it’s charming.
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