How and Why Humans Dichotomize · 2:23am Sep 11th, 2017
Language Decay
Someone--I can't remember who--observed that adjectives and adverbs in all languages gradually decay and must be replaced with new ones, because they are gravitationally drawn over the centuries towards meaning simply "good" or "bad". Consider the original meanings of these words:
Good: From Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- (“to unite, be associated, suit”)
Wonderful: Full of wonder
Awful: Full of awe, so holy or transcendent as to inspire fear