Awesome.

People in the USA would say “awesome” when they receive a pretty regular cup of coffee. The Iguazu Falls in Argentina is awesome, not a cup of coffee. This might not be the best example, but let’s explore people’s ridiculousness choice of words.

"I grew up in abject poverty."

No, no, no you did not. You had a lot less than your friends maybe. You were poorer than average. Abject poverty is when you need to walk thirty minutes each day to fetch water, as they do in Columbia. One set of clothes, very little food. No mobile phone. No TV. Fetch the water then walk out again in the heat for an hour to go to a school.

We self-diagnose. We have ADHD, autism, childhood trauma. PTSD from our parents shouting at us too often rather than from the noise of grenades and missiles hitting the upstairs flat. We self-diagnose and exaggerate. Not always, but more than we ought to. We devalue the meaning of the words in such a way that those suffering much greater traumas are left with no words left in the dictionary which explains their situation.

How about we remedy the situation in an old-fashioned British way. We can adopt the descriptions sailors use to play down the events of the day.

A sailor would describe this as, “a bit of a swell”.

You and I may say we were going up and down akin to a violent rollercoaster. The sailor, “a bit of a swell”.

A sailor would tell you that the boat had, “a bit of the leans.” You and I may say we were tipping over so much that water was lapping over the sides quite a lot. The sailor, “a bit of the leans."

When you hear over the radio that north of the island, they were picking up a bit of a breeze, you know that it is blowing a gale. Reefing in required before you pass the sheltered point.