According to Barzun, "alternative" should never be used to mean "alternate." It's ok to take an alternative route, but an alternate route would suggest that there are two routes, each taken every other day. Of course, "alternative" has become such a weasel word (everyone knows the "alternative" high school is really the juvy school of last resort, and that the "alternative" radio station is just another adult contemporary corporate-owned clear-channel) that it has ceased to have any subversive or edgy meaning. The meaning is in fact perjorative--she's "a bit alternative," suggests that she a) does not wear deodorant or b) is incapable of logical thinking or c) is a dime-store, catalog-purchased hipster wannabe. It is particularly onerous when "alternative" is used as a noun...."your alternative in the valley." Your alternative what?
2 comments:
The alternative cookie
Sift
the road less traveled with a dose of
anti-pablum
requiring reflective engagement
and add
catharsis.
Bake and eat.
According to Barzun, "alternative" should never be used to mean "alternate." It's ok to take an alternative route, but an alternate route would suggest that there are two routes, each taken every other day. Of course, "alternative" has become such a weasel word (everyone knows the "alternative" high school is really the juvy school of last resort, and that the "alternative" radio station is just another adult contemporary corporate-owned clear-channel) that it has ceased to have any subversive or edgy meaning. The meaning is in fact perjorative--she's "a bit alternative," suggests that she a) does not wear deodorant or b) is incapable of logical thinking or c) is a dime-store, catalog-purchased hipster wannabe.
It is particularly onerous when "alternative" is used as a noun...."your alternative in the valley." Your alternative what?
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