| Q. I am writing regarding a recent newspaper headline: "It Is Way Better To Feel Good Than To Look Good." When I was growing up, I would have been told to use the adverb "much" instead of "way" in that sentence. Could you please comment on this usage? -- Rob Pease, Hartford, Conn.
A: The use of "way" as an intensifying adverb, meaning "to a great degree, much," as in "way off base" and "way more than I expected," has popped up occasionally in English ever since the 1300s. But it didn't become well- established in standard English until the early 1900s.
During the early 20th century, commentators frowned on this new use of "way," and it was generally restricted to set phrases involving distance or time, such as "way beyond," "way up," "way earlier," "way later."
By the 1950s, respectable writers were using the adverbial "way," even though it still bore a whiff of informality: William H. Whyte -- "� and that's way, way down"; William Bundy -- "� falls way short of what might have been done"; William F. Buckley -- " � the market � was way down." (Given the first name of these writers, you might say, "Where there's a 'Will,' there's a 'way.'")
In recent years, however, young people have been using "way" as a general intensifier and applying it to any adjective they can find -- "way cool," "way bad," "way random." These extensions of the adverbial "way" beyond the distance and time phrases may eventually become standard English; for now, they're not.
This use of "way" as a generational marker has probably made every use of the adverbial "way" sound nonstandard to mature ears. Even legitimate uses of "way" may seem suspect.
While I won't try to concoct a hard-and-fast rule about when to use the adverbial "way," you're safer doing so when "way" can be replaced with "much" than when it can be replaced with "very." Hence, "way beyond," "way nicer," "way richer" are OK, while "way annoying," "way nice" and "way rich" are, well, way annoying.
The "way better" used in the headline, for instance, falls into a gray area. "Much better" would certainly be more traditional. But "way better," while informal, can't really be considered nonstandard. Perhaps the headline writer was trying to appeal to the younger set.
"Younger set"? Did I just write that? Now there's a generational marker!
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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
Copyright 2009 Creators Syndicate Inc.
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