It Really Do Be Like That Sometimes

I saw Endgame yesterday, and there's no doubt it is one of the greats: up there with Iron Man 1, Captain America: Civil War, and Infinity War. There were so many great references to past MCU movies and it was a satisfying conclusion to the Avengers series. But with the release of this long-awaited film  many people have been wary, even terrified of spoilers regarding the plot. Look at that smile! I can understand their viewpoint: you only ever get to see a movie for the first time once, and being able to experience enthralling moments in the theater is the reason so many go to the movies on opening day with friends and family. Naturally, spoilers ruin the this feeling when you already know what will happen next. Unfortunately, a certain Thejas Thota spoiled Endgame for me while we were at the theater. Obviously, Thejas should take a leaf out of Pinker's book and know that "Words let us say the things we want to say and also things we would be better off not ...

In our society, euphemisms are commonplace. The majority of euphemisms are used to convey thoughtfulness during a potentially sensitive time, like "passed away" instead of "died", or "downsizing" instead of "job cuts". However, euphemisms are also inherently dangerous, as they can "make it easier to shrug off the seriousness of the situation" (Kakutani). There is no greater modern example of this than the phrase "alternative facts" used by Kellyanne Conway in 2017 instead of demonstrable falsehoods. After we read The Word Police  in class, I happened to see this tweet on my timeline that I thought fit perfectly with what we discussed: The full story is linked here:  Story Link I thought it was interesting how the actual article itself uses the right words: hero instead of shooter, and undressed man instead of stranger––while the person who tweeted the video(an anchor at the same station) clearly changed the language, a...