An Epic Takedown of Élite Brospeak

Serial eavesdroppers may have noticed something alarming recently—more alarming than usual, anyway—in the public uses of a common adjective: “epic.” The word has started rearing its head in odd places. In phrases such as “Epic win!” and “Epic fail!,” it seems to herald urgent grandiosity: an extra dusting of confetti or of shame. In other contexts, and particularly from the mouths of wild-eyed go-getters, “epic” announces bigness for what’s personal and small: epic meltdown, epic sneeze, epic vacation. Urban Dictionary helpfully adds “epic boredom,” which approaches the annoying heart of the thing. This is the term of people who believe their ennui is epochal. But “Epic” may have found its epic low a few days ago, when, as the Bay Area news site SFist noticed, its meaning swallowed even snack food. Welcome to the age of “epic toast.”