For the last 20 years, we’ve added somewhere between one to two thousand words and terms a year to the English language—20,000 to 40,000 in total. While we probably don’t need more acronyms, it’s good to have terms like chef’s kiss, prosocial, and rewild.

The vitality of language isn’t just in how it grows; it’s in how it develops to reflect the society it speaks for.

None of us can keep up with every new word and definition. And in that gap, something important gets lost. These terms often simplify complex issues. Worse, they help us feel better without necessarily helping us BE better.

Take quiet quitting or the unhoused. Easy to say, harder to understand, impossible to stomach. And that’s where these terms fail us. When we don’t fully comprehend, we minimize. When we minimize, we reduce the emotional weight, making it easier to digest—and in doing so, we often become indifferent.

We can’t care about everything. But did we intentionally choose to stop caring, or did we just learn a new term and move on?

Where is your language conveniently creating indifference when we need you to make a difference?