Absurd?

ab·surd \əb-ˈsərd, -ˈzərd\ adjective 1: ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous 2: having no rational or orderly relationship to human life : meaningless ; also : lacking order or value 3: dealing with the absurd or with absurdism
September 2010
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    This is the (Worst/Best) ______ Ever!

    So am I the only one that thinks absolute statements like “this is the worst day ever” are just rediculous?  If not the only one, it seems I am in the minority as I hear people say things like this regularly.  Do they just not realize how absolutely absurd those statements are?

    I mean is if this really has been the worst day ever, why didn’t I notice?  Surely if the day had been worse than the day JFK was shot or the day the Challenger blew up I would have noticed something.  Surely if it was a worse day than when the World Trade Center collapsed there would be something on the news.  I just want to look at these people and ask them how today was worse than any of the days during either of the World Wars.

    The thing is, this really does apply to just about any absolute statement.  ”This is the worst meal ever” really, have you seen what they eat in third world countries.  ”This is the best song ever” really, this pop song you are listening to is superior to all the great classical music ever created?

    Ok, yes I understand what people mean when they say these things.  My issue is, why do they need to use these grandiose statements when it would be much better to just say what they mean.  Does the statement “I have had a really rotten day” truly have so little weight that we must push it into some grandiose statement of an unlikely absolute?

    Sometimes I just don’t understand people.

    • Lisa
      Ew. Becky I'm sorry. That sucks, hon.
    • shaplts
      Wow, that sucks Becky. I hope your shoulder is doing better.
    • So, last Wednesday when I tripped over one of the cats in the kitchen and fell, badly dislocating my shoulder, was just a really rotten day? Yeah, I suppose you are right, but as I was sitting on the floor trying to pop my shoulder back into it's socket it sure FELT like the worst day ever.
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