WORD OF THE WEEK: SICK

IN my deep and lasting innocence I always imagined the word ‘sick’ to indicate illness. Not any more, it seems. Younger folk are now increasingly using the term to indicate that something meets with their approval. For example, the sentence “that track is totally sick, dude” should be taken to mean “I believe that song to be very good, mate.”

However, the new usage of the word sick gets a little confusing when one considers that the old usage still applies. It is now totally legitimate to say “That party was totally sick, but I had too much to drink, so now I need a sick note for work.”

This columnist is concerned that what is most sick is the English language itself – in both senses of the word.