Words I'd like to reclaim: Graphic

It's hardly offensive.

I get it.

I get that English is a living language, forever changing, forever adapting to the needs of those who speak it. That's right and good and as it should be.

Most new words and word usages don't bother me at all. I laugh when someone 'tweets' on Twitter, because I suspect we're all a bunch of 'twits', but I get it. I cringe when I'm asked to 'action' something, but fine, it's a quick and easy way to ask me get something done. It was ages before I figured out what LOL was, and I'm still not sure about LMFAO (but my son told me it has a bad word in it...ok), but I can read between the lines.

I would however, like to reclaim the word 'graphic'. Think about it.

In writing, the word 'graphic' (adj.) refers to writing which is clear and effective. Graphic writing expresses very clearly what it is the writer wants to express. By extension, a graphic image is also one which is clear and effective.

Shouldn't this be a GOOD thing?

Yet every time I turn on the television, I am warned away from programmes which contain graphic images, because I may be offended by them. It seems to me that I should be more offended by shows which do not use graphic images, otherwise, why did I spend so much money on a television with HD capabilities?

Of course, what the network really means is that the programme I am about to watch contains graphic images of something which I, or my kids, might find upsetting. Thank you for the warning, but please, please, stop misusing the much-maligned adjective 'graphic'.

I find it offensive.