Awesome

Whenever I hear the word 'awesome', I am reminded of Eddie Izzard's musings on the changing definition. He talks about the original meaning of the word awesome, reserved for things which inspire awe, such as the universe. He then contrasts this with the Americanisation of the word, where something like a hot dog can be described as 'awesome'.


Excerpt from "Circle" (Eddie Izzard)

America needs the old version of awesome, because you're the only ones going into space. You've got a bit of cash and you go up there, and you need 'awesome' because you're going to be going to the next sun to us. And your President's going to be going:

"Can you tell me, astronaut, can you tell me what it's like?"
"It's awesome, sir."
"What, like a hot dog?"
"Like a hundred billion hot dogs, sir."