Enough with the awkward already

Embarrassing, perplexing, inconvenient, thorny, uncomfortable, disagreeable, bewildering, sticky, tricky, delicate, uneasy, equivocal, disturbing, inopportune, painful, troublesome, trying …

What do these words have in common? They are all synonyms for ‘awkward’. Melbourne Comedy Festival is here and reminds us just how awkwardly overused the word ‘awkward’ has become.

Stand up comedians and comedy writers the world over are doing for 'awkward' what Alanis Morisette did for 'ironic' in the 1990s.

“Saw my grandmother naked – awkward!”

“And then he pulled out a cucumber – awkward!”

“Oh, you ordered the steak – (this is) awkward.”

Enough is enough.

Seek ye out comedians who can get through a whole show without using it. And applaud with loud, whole-hearted passion. Let there be nothing embarrassing about your applause. Let your appreciation be anything but uneasy. Let the comedians know unequivocally how much you value their efforts to be linguistically and descriptively diverse.

Let the bewilderment begin!