Maybe I’m wrong, English is my third language though …
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There is an appropriate xkcd for this.
People use a lot of words incorrectly on the internet.
Ahem, it’s “alot”
Literally, for sure.
for example, ‘Internet’ is a proper noun and should always be capitalized
Would you like a kleenex?
No, it’d only end up in the dumpster.
Honestly, try to find a word people are using right on the internet. That’s the real challenge
Itso ironic right?
It’s an aesthetic decision.
Do you mean where people use it as an adjective? E.g., ‘This house is very aesthetic’ where they mean ‘beautiful’?
I wasn’t very aesthetic in high school. I preferred video games to sports.
There was a viral short featuring someone using it wrong, a bunch of younger people cribbed from the video and started using it wrong.
Okay, just so I don’t get annoyed and be boomery about it, what is the new incorrect usage?
Using it as an adjective, to mean “has a pleasing aesthetic.”
It’s a lot more understandable when you think of it as an abbreviated form of “This is very aesthetic(ally pleasing).”
Using it as an adjective, to mean “has a pleasing aesthetic.”
Isn’t that the proper usage?
No, “aesthetic” is generally just a noun, historically. As in “it has a modern/minimalist/cyberpunk aesthetic.” Its usage as an adjective just means “relating to the general idea of aesthetics as a field of study,” or “someone with a strong sense of and attunement to the design and beauty of things.” Using it to just mean “beautiful,” basically, is a new usage in just the last 5 years or less.
Words take on new meanings sometimes due to cultural experiences, and the new usage of the word is one of those meanings.
Well, yeah, language is dynamic, but there are so many fad uses of words that are caused by people not knowing the real/original/normal use of the word and then spread by the Internet and then forgotten as quickly as they began. If not for social media, these would be limited to 12 middle schoolers at band camp. This feels like one of those.
You kind of just described what a meme is
Have you heard of “false friends?” Words that have come from one language into another, but due to use have completely changed meaning along the way, often to mean the exact opposite of their original meaning. This is common enough that, especially if you speak a Latin based language and learn English as a second language, you’ll see them everywhere.
My point is, that this is not an internet phenomena and has been a feature of languages since there has been language. Some don’t last long, others are so embedded in our lexicons that we don’t even notice.
