As language is used, it evolves, and the meanings of words change and adapt. If you’ve ever said “lol” out loud, or used “totes” you understand. You may even be one of those people who hates “literally” being used incorrectly.
Now there’s a new bugbear.
Because. It is, according to Wikipedia, the 94th most common word in English. And it is a “subordinating conjunction”, meaning it connects two parts of a sentence where one explains the other.
But thanks to the internet, that has changed – because internet. Writing for the Atlantic, Megan Garber reports that linguists are calling it the "prepositional-because”:
It's a usage, in other words, that is exceptionally bloggy and aggressively casual and implicitly ironic. And also highly adaptable. Carey has unearthed instances of the "because-noun" construction with the noun in question being, among other terms, "science, math, people, art, reasons, comedy, bacon, ineptitude, fun, patriarchy, politics, school, intersectionality, and winner." (Intersectionality! Because THEORY. Bacon! Because BACON.)
Relatedly, earlier this week, the Oxford English Dictionary announced its word of the year is “selfie” – cue yet another round of hand-wringing thinkpieces about selfies, narcissistic Millennials and how they’re bringing about the end of civilisation itself, filtered high-angle snapshot by filtered high-angle snapshot. (Here's a no-nonsense guide on how to write one.)
Feminist blog Jezebel managed to offend half its audience by saying selfies aren’t empowering, but a cry for help:
Young women take selfies because they don't derive their sense of worth from themselves, they rely on others to bestow their self-worth on them – just as they've been taught. From the time they're itty bitty, little girls are bombarded with images of idealized female forms.
And that, of course, coined a hashtag: #feministselfie.