Abnormal Normal
Why Read This
What Makes This Article Worth Your Time
Summary
What This Article Is About
In this brief opinion column, Jug Suraiya argues that constant exposure has drained the word “War“—both in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the US-Israel-Iran confrontation—of its alarm, turning what should be extraordinary into mundane background noise.
He extends the same logic to extreme weather, statistics, and language itself, noting that the mathematically “normal” height is actually an average no real person has, and that “normalcy”—the word Warren G. Harding popularized in 1921—was itself a grammatical error that became standard usage.
Key Points
Main Takeaways
War Has Become Background Noise
Years of continuous Russia-Ukraine and US-Israel-Iran conflict have dulled the word “War” from an alarming headline into routine reporting.
Repetition Breeds Numbness
Trump’s repeated announcements of Iran’s defeat, imminent deals, and Hormuz reopenings made war coverage feel exhausting rather than urgent.
War and Peace Have Swapped Places
Suraiya argues war, which should be an alarming exception, has become the norm in West Asia, while peace has become the unusual outcome.
Climate Extremes Are Following the Same Pattern
Frequent heatwaves and erratic monsoons show the abnormal becoming normal in weather, mirroring what’s happening with war coverage.
“Normal” Is a Statistical Illusion
Averaging extreme heights to calculate a “normal” Indian male height shows that the typical case is itself a kind of fiction.
“Normalcy” Was Never the Correct Word
Warren G. Harding’s 1921 slogan popularized the grammatically incorrect “normalcy” over “normality,” an error that itself became normal usage.
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Article Analysis
Breaking Down the Elements
Main Idea
Repetition Turns the Extraordinary Ordinary
Suraiya’s central observation is that constant exposure—to war, extreme weather, or even language errors—erodes our sense of alarm, until the abnormal becomes routine and the truly normal starts to feel exceptional. He uses war, climate, statistics, and etymology as four parallel examples of this same psychological and linguistic drift.
Purpose
To Provoke Reflection Through Wordplay and Irony
Writing as an opinion columnist, Suraiya aims to make readers notice how desensitized they’ve become to crisis, using wit and wordplay—like “abnormalcy has become the normalcy”—rather than statistics or argumentation alone to drive the point home in a compact, conversational column.
Structure
Anecdotal → Comparative → Analytical → Ironic
The column opens with the specific case of war headlines fatiguing readers, draws a comparison to climate change, pivots to a mathematical critique of the word “normal,” and closes with an ironic etymological anecdote about Warren G. Harding, tying language itself into the essay’s central paradox.
Tone
Wry, Ironic & Conversational
Suraiya writes with dry wit and a fondness for wordplay—capital-W “War” becoming lower-case, “abnormalcy” becoming “normalcy”—maintaining a light, conversational register even while making a serious point about desensitization to conflict and crisis.
Key Terms
Vocabulary from the Article
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Tough Words
Challenging Vocabulary
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A confused, complicated, or embarrassing situation involving conflict.
“Much the same happened with the US-Israel-Iran imbroglio.”
An aggressive, hostile readiness to fight or engage in conflict.
“Israel’s continuing belligerence threatens to make war the default option in West Asia.”
A departure from what is normal or expected.
“War, which ought to be an alarming aberration, has become normal.”
Troubled or besieged by persistent difficulties.
“…that a deal with the beleaguered country was imminent…”
Continuing at full force without weakening or decreasing.
“After over four years of Russia-Ukraine hostilities continuing unabated…”
In a way relating to the historical origin of a word.
“Etymologically too, the word normalcy is itself an abnormality.”
Reading Comprehension
Test Your Understanding
5 questions covering different RC question types
1According to the article, “normalcy” is technically the grammatically correct word for the state of being normal.
2According to the article, how many times had Trump announced that a deal with Iran was imminent, per the commentator cited?
3Which sentence best captures the article’s central paradox about the word “normal”?
4Based on the article, evaluate the following statements.
The cited “normal” height for an adult Indian male is 1.67 meters.
Warren G. Harding’s “Return to normalcy” slogan followed the devastation of World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic.
The article states that a lasting, comprehensive peace has been achieved between the US and Iran.
Select True or False for all three statements, then click “Check Answers”
5Based on the article’s argument, what can be inferred about why Suraiya finds the mathematical definition of “normal” ironic?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Suraiya argues that after more than four years of continuous Russia-Ukraine fighting and repeated US-Israel-Iran escalations, constant exposure has drained the word “War” of its shock value. What once made headlines in capital letters now reads as routine, lower-case background noise, even as the underlying conflicts continue.
The article uses the average height of an adult Indian male, cited as 1.67m, to show that mathematically calculated “normal” figures are built from genuinely uncommon extremes—men at 1.80m and 1.60m—making the so-called normal a statistical construct rather than a height most people actually have.
Suraiya notes that “normality” is the grammatically correct term, but “normalcy” became standard usage after Warren G. Harding used it in his 1921 presidential campaign slogan “Return to normalcy.” The popular word is therefore itself a linguistic error that became accepted as normal.
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This article is rated Advanced. Its short length is deceptive—dense allusions to ongoing geopolitical conflicts, statistical reasoning, and etymology, paired with ironic, compressed wordplay, require readers to follow several distinct lines of argument quickly and infer connections the author doesn’t spell out.
Jug Suraiya is a former associate editor at the Times of India who writes the regular columns “Jugular Vein” and “Second Opinion.” This piece appears in his “Jugglebandhi” blog, a space for personal, often wry commentary on current events and language.
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