The word "awkward"

Tommy   Wed Mar 18, 2009 3:00 pm GMT
In the last few months, I've heard so many people (mostly teenagers) use this word in sentences like "She looks kind of awkward"--in describing her style, not lack of grace. Has anyone else noticed people using this word more frequently lately, and with different shades of meaning? And where did they pick it up from? A tv show or something? I've heard so many different people say it lately that it can't simply be coincidence.
Skippy   Wed Mar 18, 2009 3:11 pm GMT
I actually think this was closer to its original meaning, while "lack of grace" came later. But certainly a lack of social grace (or "embarassing" or something along those lines) would fit as well.

Describing someone's appearance is pretty typical at least in my age group and within the dialects I've been most exposed to (24 years old, lived in Texas, California, and Louisiana).
Jago   Wed Mar 18, 2009 4:02 pm GMT
I've always heard the word "awkward" being used in the UK. It's probably just been reintroduced over the pond from a continued use over here.
Tommy   Wed Mar 18, 2009 4:24 pm GMT
Well it's not like it died out here. It just seems like lately people are using it much more frequently and with more shades of meaning. It's sort of like a few years ago when everyone was saying "oh sweet niblets" all the time.
a person   Wed Mar 18, 2009 11:35 pm GMT
this thread is awkward
Tommy   Wed Mar 18, 2009 11:50 pm GMT
@a person: yes that's exactly the kind of usage that I mean.
user   Thu Mar 19, 2009 1:12 am GMT
It is a common English word and always has been used... Sometimes it happens that there is a word you've never heard in your life and then you hear it for the first time or notice it for the first time and then after that it just keeps popping up everywhere! This happened to me when I first saw the word "betwixt" about three months ago. I had to look it up and I thought that it was a funny and cool word and it stuck in my mind. Since then I have seen it about 5 times which is really strange considering that for the 24 years before that I had never heard it once. That doesn't make it a common word though... just a coincidence mixed with it being fresh in my mind and of interest to me...
Robin Michael   Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:39 am GMT
I was not surprised to find the word 'awkward' on this site.

I have always found the spelling of 'awk-ward' rather strange.

A little bit like an 'awk'?
Damian in Edinburgh   Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:10 am GMT
"Awkward" is fairy widely used here in the UK, although there are several regional dialectal terms for this word with the same meaning.....here in Scotland "gawkit" is often used instead, as is our own variation "ackwart", and down in West Yorkshire "gawky" is, apparently, the dialect word for left-handedness, which can be regarded as a wee bit of an insult by people, such as myself, who are left handed....in other parts of the UK the term "cackhanded" is the local expression, which sounds just as objectionable. I'd much rather be called a "southpaw" - another word for a left-handed peron, even though it is usually linked to boxers.

Elsewhere "gawky", as with "awkward", means clumsy and ungainly and actually sounds more expressive, and doesn't look quite as weird as awkward - I suppose it's unusual to have two "Ws" so close to each other in a short(ish) English word. It looks as if it should be Welsh really - the Welsh love their "Ws" and their "Ys".
your name:   Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:45 am GMT
It's funny how English works... It turns out the word 'awkward' has a rather awkward spelling...