Set the tone
Words we love: glorious
Ellie Harbinson
Account Executive
As I strolled into the office on a Monday morning, after my weekend of pastries and Aperol’s, I announced myself to the room by stating – “what a glorious morning”. So, when I pondered on a word I do truly love (and use fairly consistently), I was reminded by my colleague Lily that only I would use the word glorious, and I thought to myself – that’s a real shame.
When the word glorious springs to mind, it immediately feels light and powerful, in a way that rolls off the tongue. My favourite description of the word glorious notes that the word is to be used when something is fabulous and wonderful. Although, I am still sad that the Latin origin of the word; “gloriosus” is not in use anymore.
To me, it’s a word with so much potential to be used in all scenarios, but alas, I fear it’s one that’s avoided due to its “dramatic” connotations of being full of glory. The term was first uttered by the Anglo-French (1300–50), who used it in an effervescent sense to describe the feeling of being blessed. In my fleabag ways, I see higher potential for the word to be used in everyday language, as word that really is full of glory and one that deserves far more usage.
It’s interesting to see how its use has been taken in a comical lens over time. Looking at its usage in daily newspapers here are a handful of my favourite moments where it’s been used, with no context: glorious yuletide, glorious train wreck, glorious milk bottles, to name a few. It’s fascinating to see how over the years it’s been deemed a word that creates humorous moments within editorial.
Similarly, take my morning example – you can really set yourself up for a good day (even if the weather is terrible), by saying in great jest “what a glorious morning”, in doing so – it will end up being a glorious morning.
As a film buff, my most-loved film growing up was always Hocus Pocus (the 1993 version), and at the beginning of the film we see Winifred Sanderson (one of the Sanderson sisters) recite an iconic quote; “Oh look, another glorious morning – makes me sick”. Here, we see the use of the word glorious in a transformative way, it shows us that the use of the word in the morning can brighten even a witch's day!
Looking towards the MCU universe, many who love the Loki films (or Tom Hiddleston), will know that Loki has a turbulent time “burdened with glorious purpose”. For those who aren’t caught up in that world, Loki is the God of Mischief whose nature is to deceive those around him and wreak havoc everywhere he goes. His “glorious purpose” comes crashing down when he fails to betray Thanos during Avengers: Infinity War and realises that the infinity stones don’t matter. He teaches us all that placing our worth on glory and achievement shouldn’t be our life’s work and to enjoy each moment as it comes.
In an era where it seems our life’s worth can sometimes feel down to how many “big achievements” we’ve had – be that; awards, promotions or even praise, we have to remember that even superheroes struggle to reach their “glorious purpose” and with that, it’s important we seek glory out in the little things – even in the overcast Monday mornings.
