CCT+300+Lab+9

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This article on Truthiness by Ben Zimmer discusses the evolution of the word “truthiness” in our modern society. This word became famous as it was used by Stephen Colbert during his premier episode of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report”. He was looking for “a silly word that would feel wrong in your mouth”. This word was to be used to show an approximation of truth, not truth itself. Therefore words such as truthish or truthy were to be used, but truthiness became the word he used after a flash of inspiration. Truthiness, however already showed up in the Oxford English Dictionary under the adjective truthy.

Although this word was in the dictionary it was rarely used before 2005. This all changed thanks the Stephen Colbert; it became a word that gained social momentum and popularity. In 2005, it was chosen by the A.D.S. as the Word of the Year.

The popularity of this word created imitators such as the words “fame-iness” and “referenciness”. New trends in society today are showing that the English language is evolving and keeping up with modern times. Who knows what other words may appear over our lifetime. Our only job is to keep up with it and stay informed. The older generations for example have a hard time understanding our slangs, sayings and phrases. Words used in our generation are transformed or created by media figures. For example the rap and hip hop music influence has made the word “Yo” a word that can be used in everyday sentences.

Steven Colbert among many other popular media figures are reshaping the English language. Some may believe it is for the worse, but I believe they are creating a language that is universally transforming and conforming to modern society.

Works Cited
Zimmer, Ben. “Truthiness.” The New York Times. 13 October 2010. Web. 10 November 2010. <[]>.