Believe me when I say I love words. I truly do.

I adore the English language, in particular, with all of its rich nuances and cornucopia of vocabulary. I also love the evolution of words and expressions. The alt meanings of terrific, wicked and sick, being just a few examples.

The changes in social mores have always been reflected in the metamorphosis of words, but we now we appear to live in a society where superlatives (an adjective or verb expressing the highest in quality) are simply the norm, reducing their efficacy.

Just the other day I heard someone refer to a 19-year-old reality TV personality as a legend. Really? Mata Hari was a legend. Gandhi was a legend. The Z-lister from Love Island is most definitely not a legend.

Instagram, YouTube and TikTok influencers have created a whole new argot (usually prefixed by the ubiquitous OMG!) which has seeped into the Gen Z and Alpha sub-consciousness.

Ham & High: Shelley-Anne Salisbury does not like the overuse of superlativesShelley-Anne Salisbury does not like the overuse of superlatives (Image: Shelley-Anne Salisbury)

Amazing, unbelievable, incredible are losing their amazement, believability and credibility. These days just about everything is amazing. I hear it all the time. OMG this bread is amazing!, OMG these sweatpants are amazing!. Bread can definitely be delicious and sweatpants can be comfortable - but amazing??

And while I’m prepared to admit, the sound made by an ASMR influencer pressing down on frozen sheets of rolled up bubble wrap is pleasant, it is not (in my view) OMG the most incredible sound ever. No, people, it’s just pleasant.

Then there’s the use of nonsensical expressions, the worst (to my mind) being my Bad, the 21st century version of an apology. It doesn’t even work grammatically. However, it has become firmly entrenched in our lexicon. When I heard a well-respected septuagenarian Radio 4 journalist use it recently, I knew we were literally done for.

Talking about literally, whilst typing this column, my 13-year-old daughter has used the word literally L-I-T-E-R-A-L-L-Y five times in the exact same sentence. Give me strength.

I’m quite literally pulling my hair out. It’s incredibly irritating. It’s unbelievable how our amazing vernacular is being corrupted by the over use of superlatives, misused expressions and erroneous grammar.

OMG. ‘nuff said.

Shelley-Anne Salisbury is a mediator, writer and the co-editor of Suburb News, themediationpod.net