HAUNTED
Excuse the overuse of Odyssean analogies, but I too am a humble hero on a tumultuous journey home.
Semantic satiation is the name given to that phenomenon that causes a word to temporarily lose meaning when you say it over and over again in quick succession.
Frenulum. Frenulum. Frenulum. Frenulum. Frenulum. Frenulum. Frenulum. Frenulum.
I think collectively, societally, we’ve stripped a few words of their meaning, perhaps permanently, by their repetition too. The word “trauma,” for example, by its complete and utter overuse, means absolutely nothing anymore.
Trauma. Trauma. Trauma. Trauma. Trauma. Trauma. Trauma. Trauma. Trauma. Trauma.
We use it to describe everything from poor treatment in school to feelings of rejection when our latest romantic entanglement ends abruptly with a soft let-down via text. Of course, the reason for the letdown is usually attributed to trauma, too. We warn friends and lovers alike, “Be careful, I’m trauma-rabid—don’t come too close.” It’s a veritable one-size-fits-all back story to get in and out of absolutely anywhere or anything.
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