Meaning Of Bless Meaning

“Just got new Jordans! #blessed” is one of the variations of posts with the popular hashtag. Most of the time, millennials are seen on social media avenues with posts that includes the word. #blessed is only one of the deviations of its root word, bless. Traditionally speaking, bless is defined by Merriam Webster as the act “to hallow or consecrate by religious rite or word.” In this sense, the common notion regarding the word is to sanctify an event or a person. Another communal reflection of the word in reality is when Filipinos pay respect to elders by bowing down to be blessed. Also, another meaning includes the act “to confer prosperity or happiness upon.” (Merriam Webster, n.d.) It is not uncommon for people to casually say “bless you!”

As expressed above, originally, bless is an act of consecration—in religious terms—and socially, it is a reply to a statement that one has found humorous, sweet, or good. However, today, bless is inferred as a reply to something good (Urban Dictionary, n.d.). For example, when someone says “I found a good song for the dance!” and the dancer’s companion may reply “bless” as a sign of acknowledgement and expression of approval. Moving on, another variant of the word that is a common phrase today is bless you. Often times, it is used as a general reply when a person near the user sneezed (Merriam Webster, n.d.). Moreover, the Urban Dictionary explained that bless you is used as a reply after one sneezed as it is “believed the sneeze is when the soul leaves the body.” That is the traditional definition and notion of the phrase. Today, bless you is another code for well-wishing. As stated from Merriam Webster, the phrase is “used to express thanks or good wishes.” For instance, when an individual does a good deed to another person, the receiver of the action expresses “God bless you” or “bless you” alone as a sign of thanksgiving. Lastly, bless has evolved into blessed, which is commonly known as the act of being guided and accompanied by the grace of a supreme being. Merriam Webster formally defined blessed as something “held in reverence.”

One of the reasons that the use of the new definitions became more prevalent today is due to the excessive exposure to social media and the effect of its ability to change and expand the limits of what a word should only mean. As stated by David Crystal in an article from BBC News (2010), language adapted to change as the internet continues to push these changes. Thus, as society adapts to change, language also does and this alone affects how words are seen, interpreted, and relayed to others. Also, according to Jasilek (2013), social media poses a good effect on how it changes language. In her article, she stated, “in our fast-paced society, the almost instant ability of social media to share thoughts with the world has also affected our behavior in actual speech” (Jasilek, 2013). As netizens continue to use hashtags and internet slangs, language is also altered. Alongside the social media, an individual’s peers can also affect linguistics in terms of semantic change. A guest author from TED expressed in a 2014 article that humans are inclined to mix and play with words. In the same sense, language evolves as word play is exercised. It is normal for words to change meanings as generations put references in accordance to the trends a generation currently has. Linguistics and how people use words change for various reasons. In today’s age, it is common for words to have new meanings coined by millennials as