Maybe I’m wrong, English is my third language though …
It’s an aesthetic decision.
Do you mean where people use it as an adjective? E.g., ‘This house is very aesthetic’ where they mean ‘beautiful’?
How are people using it wrong? How should it be used instead? We (I) cannot guess context…
There was a viral short featuring someone using it wrong, a bunch of younger people cribbed from the video and started using it wrong.
Okay, just so I don’t get annoyed and be boomery about it, what is the new incorrect usage?
Using it as an adjective, to mean “has a pleasing aesthetic.”
Using it as an adjective, to mean “has a pleasing aesthetic.”
Isn’t that the proper usage?
No, “aesthetic” is generally just a noun, historically. As in “it has a modern/minimalist/cyberpunk aesthetic.” Its usage as an adjective just means “relating to the general idea of aesthetics as a field of study,” or “someone with a strong sense of and attunement to the design and beauty of things.” Using it to just mean “beautiful,” basically, is a new usage in just the last 5 years or less.
Words take on new meanings sometimes due to cultural experiences, and the new usage of the word is one of those meanings.
Well, yeah, language is dynamic, but there are so many fad uses of words that are caused by people not knowing the real/original/normal use of the word and then spread by the Internet and then forgotten as quickly as they began. If not for social media, these would be limited to 12 middle schoolers at band camp. This feels like one of those.
