[Magdalen] "insane"

[Lesley de Voil]

The current slang term used by Australian aborigines is 'deadly.' That took a bit of getting used to, but after some awards for Aussie aboriginal  TV actors were renamed 'The Deadlies' the term has gone almost mainstream.

-----Original Message-----
From: "Lynn Ronkainen" <houstonklr at gmail.com>
Sent: ‎6/‎02/‎2017 14:16
To: "magdalen at herberthouse.org" <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
Subject: Re: [Magdalen] "insane"

Sibyl I think it is maybe a second generation permutation of saying "crazy" as a similar reaction to almost anything. And yes, I've noticed too. 
Lynn 

On Feb 5, 2017, at 10:09 PM, Sibyl Smirl <polycarpa3 at ckt.net> wrote:

Does anybody have any idea why the term "insane" seems to be complimentary or approving these days, especially in spam or clickbait, perhaps in modern slangy language, as the word "bad" was (mainly only for teenagers) a few years ago?  Teens, of course, delight in having their own language that confuses older people, cementing their age-group as an in-group, then the teens 5-10 years younger have totally stopped using it in that way, and the ones who originally used it seem to have also stopped, but "insane" appears me to be in spots attempting to reach the adult population.  It does have its normal connotation of "weird" or "unusual", but it also appears to have an approval, "superlatively good" message attached.  I only began noticing seeing it used this way in the last 5-10 years, and it doesn't seem to me to have the feel of an in-group thing, but to be in contexts aimed at everybody.




-- 
Sibyl Smirl
I will take no bull from your house!  Psalms 50:9a
mailto:polycarpa3 at ckt.net