In this day and age we are constantly changing the true meaning of certain words into our own definitions. The original meaning of these words are no longer properly used or are abused with some slang term. Even though some of these words contain double meanings, they should still be treated with respect. One specific word that stands out to me is “cancer. ”
Cancer is without a doubt, nothing that should be joked around. Cancer has evolved from a regular medical term to an internet meme sensation. Though more and more people are becoming more aware of how serious cancer really is, there are still a hand full of people who like to poke fun at this deadly disease.
Cancer, is nothing that should be used for laughs or jokes. In reality, cancer is a malignant tumor of unlimited growth that expands locally by invasion and systemically by metastasis. Many people everyday suffer from this condition which come in different shapes and forms. Cancer takes our friends, family members and those close to us. Cancer is not a new word that was just made up, it has been around for decades. But as time progressed, the word has evolved in the meaning. Many are
starting to use it as a way of showing hatred for something, or dislike. For example, popular websites like 9gag, or social media apps like Instagram, use pictures with captions that shows something or someone laying on a bed because it was so bad that it gave them cancer. Sensitive situations like that should not be joked around, those people making the pictures do not understand what it means to have cancer, or even know anyone that has survived cancer. To many people, this is not a joke. From a personal experience, I have met, and known people Rodriguez 2
that have survived cancer, and lived to tell about it. Cancer, is no laughing matter. Cancer has taken more than a million people every year as well as diagnosing many more. An example of the misuse of the word occurred once while I was scrolling trough Facebook. One of my classmates posted a status claiming that “the calculus test gave me super cancer,” although he was just joking around and didn’t mean to offend anyone, one person commented on his status on how dumb and inconsiderate he is by posting that status.
She then wrote a paragraph explaining how her mother has just recently survived cancer, and informing him that living with someone that has cancer is no laughing matter. Some may say that it’s all for jokes and that we shouldn’t get upset or mad about it, because its just a “joke. ” Although you can argue that it’s all a joke, you are going to suffer from a backlash if you meet or encounter someone that has struggled with cancer; they won’t think it’s so funny. New words are being overused, and are taken to a new level. Extreme words such as cancer, are constantly being used day by day, while words like “bad” or “sucks” are just being forgotten.
A huge factor that influences this is, the internet. The internet is often showing many different forms of the word, while many can say that this is harmless, they need to take into consideration on how bad this disease is and how it’s being overused. Due to things like the internet, which is a very insensitive place that likes to embrace all the negativity in the world, it makes it harder to control what what we post, or do. It is very unlikely, if not impossible, to fix the problem we humans have when it comes to what we post on social media.
If we continue on this path, we will start using it for more extreme words like “rape. ” We have to watch what we say, because you never know who is sensitive to these topics. The point I am trying to get across is that using certain words, words like cancer, are not to be played around with. This is a very sensitive topic that can easily offend someone, using the word for personal satisfaction, or fun, is nothing that should be used everyday. Sensitive subjects like these are Rodriguez 3 constantly being abused, it should be tames so that we don’t say it at the wrong place, or the wrong time.