It's Not "Not Normal", It's Wrong
/In the year that has felt like a decade since the worst president in history took office (at least William Henry Harrison had the decency to die a month in), there has been a common refrain amongst internet-y folks… “This is not normal.”
President has press secretary pointlessly lie about the size of his inauguration crowd? “This is not normal.”
President discusses top secret subjects over chocolate cake in a public place? “This is not normal.”
Senators lie about the President’s use of racist sentiments in a bi-partisan meeting? “This is not normal.”
As a person who cares about language, particularly as a means of clearly conveying ideas, this bothers me. I understand why an internet full of “fixed that for you” and “that feeling when” and “too long; didn’t read” crowded onto “this is not normal.” It’s declarative. It has a juicy number of syllables and some alliteration that make it roll off the tongue nicely. It’s got a “not” right in the middle so it sounds negative.
The problem with saying “this is not normal” is that, much like when we say “literally” and mean “figuratively”, when we say “this is not normal”, we actually mean “this is wrong”.
This is, in part, the curse of the English language and the way we use it. We feel the need to dress up our sentences to sound flowery or adjust our wording to soften or harden the way they land. In doing so, however, we also frequently soften the meaning.
A lot of things can or have been “not normal” and been morally upright. The Selma marches in 1965 were “not normal” but absolutely morally justified and necessary. Rosa Parks not giving up her seat was “not normal” and yet morally right.
Are those examples too heavy? Elvis shaking his hips on tv in 1956 was “not normal” but tame by today’s standards.
By contrast, Senators willingly lying to the American people is wrong. The President openly demonstrating his racism is wrong. And sadly, the truth is, these types of occurrences are all too normal these days.
