DYSTOPIA--THE WORD DU JOUR

In the 1960s, "charismatic" was a fashionable word used to describe JFK; until then I had never known the word. In subsequent years, I have heard numerous words become trendy and then fade away; e.g.: "paradigm", "wonk" and "dudgeon".

I recall when my nephew told me that he could tell when a modish word was passé: when he'd see it on a bumper sticker. When I saw the bumper sticker SUBVERT THE DOMINANT PARADIGM, I laughed, recalling my nephew's rule.

I have several friends who report to me each time they hear the word "schadenfreude" used (CLICK HERE to see BLOG article SCHADENFREUDE BUG). The "bug" happens whenever we hear a new--or unused--word used and then we cannot believe the number of times we hear it used afterwards; we have a compulsion to keep track of and report about the usage.

I said to Les, "I swear I've heard the word dystopia used three times this week." He said that every time he hears a promo for any science fiction work, a grave voice intones, "In a future dystopian world...."

Definition of dystopia: "an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one." It is the opposite of Utopia.

DYSTOPIA, your time has come and gone; it's now on a bumper sticker! I was very happy to see Orwell's picture on the sticker.