Culture
Vintage Language is Back in Style
Words like “smitten” and “peruse” have re-entered our lexicon.
One of the beauties of language is that it’s constantly evolving. But our modern lexicon is a linguistic purist’s worst nightmare. We use acronyms and abbreviations in nearly every sentence, and our writing has been infiltrated by internet slang and text message speak.
This particular use of slang is no doubt the product of a technology culture that prizes speed and efficiency in addition to cute little emoji. But some retro words—products of an era when language was lengthier and more ornate—may be making a resurgence back into the mainstream.