2 AM language rant
Sep. 18th, 2005 02:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
omorkaOkay, I hereby banish the word "overachiever" from the English language.
It makes no freaking sense at all. An underachiever is achieving less than s/he is capable of. By definition, then, an overachiever is achieving more than s/he is capable of. Um, hello? That's physically impossible, ne?
It's used to denigrate the achievements of those who work hard, usually women or girls but sometimes young men as well. (No one ever uses it to describe a male over 30.) Look, if someone with less talent than you works her heart out and achieves a higher goal than you, with your greater innate ability does, that doesn't mean she's an overachiever; it means either you're an underachiever, or the two of you have different goals. Stop hanging a negative label on other people because they make you look bad by working hard with less raw talent.
It makes no freaking sense at all. An underachiever is achieving less than s/he is capable of. By definition, then, an overachiever is achieving more than s/he is capable of. Um, hello? That's physically impossible, ne?
It's used to denigrate the achievements of those who work hard, usually women or girls but sometimes young men as well. (No one ever uses it to describe a male over 30.) Look, if someone with less talent than you works her heart out and achieves a higher goal than you, with your greater innate ability does, that doesn't mean she's an overachiever; it means either you're an underachiever, or the two of you have different goals. Stop hanging a negative label on other people because they make you look bad by working hard with less raw talent.
