I Think. I am Hot.

I have been intrigued by the usage of the word ‘hot’. When I was in school, it had meant only one of two things - i)having high temperature or ii)food that was spicy. We’ve come a long way since then; I have begun to grey and the word has taken on many more connotations! So, to improve my learning with regard to the word and be more up-to-date with its usage, I checked up the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary and this is what I found. 

Media - social, print, visual- have all added their own textures to the meaning. And as I watch a movie or a serial or some random programme or read a magazine or the papers, I observe the way wo/men are commodified to the extent of being made caricatures of perfection. Surely, when they are referred to as ‘hot’, the person doesn’t mean ‘having a high degree of heat’  or ‘too spicy to eat’ (cannibalism is illegal)! 

So, why does the word, when used in conjunction with a person, carry undertones of sexuality? I have never found anyone refer to a dishevelled scientist as being ‘hot’ or a plump doctor as being so either! Gossip is ‘hot’  when its fresh out of the oven; news is ‘hot’ when it creates ripples, a person is ‘hot’ when in demand… 

In today’s world, isn’t the ability to think ‘hot’  enough? I think it should be the superlative of the word! If we have embarked upon redefining the meaning of words, we must break the stereotypical narrative.

I think. And I know I am ‘hot’ for it. 

So, there’s an addendum to the dictionary :

hot - the ability to think