Summary: If you're a fan of this blog—especially on Mondays—you more than likely enjoy learning new words. How would you feel if you saw a word you didn't know as part of a headline in your local paper? And can you even think of a time when this has happened to you? If you live in Baltimore, it may have been recent ...
Last week, while reviewing some promotional material I wrote for my colleague, there was some discussion over a few word choices I'd made. Not surprisingly, some of the decision-makers around the table at our review meeting believed that not all readers would 'get' those words in question. And yet we were unanimous in our desire to use the words.
Some of the people at that meeting thought that it was important to "dumb down" the writing, in order to play to the "lowest common denominator." Most newspapers take this approach, believe it or not, writing to people with an 8th grade education at best. But what happens when a paper stops following that rule? Today's WOW Word of the Week sparked a controversy at the beginning of this month when The Baltimore Sun did just that, running a headline with the word limn front and center—literally on the front page and in the center of the title.
According to the article about this on Merriam-Webster.com, letters and messages came pouring in from impassioned readers who were split over their opinions: Many were offended by what they thought was "arrogant and patronizing," but others were thankful for the opportunity to expand their vocabularies.
Limn (LIM) - (v.) This word has three different meanings, all stemming from the root word for illuminate: (1) to draw or paint on a surface, (2) to outline in sharp detail (The Sun's usage), and (3) to describe. Interestingly enough, the modified version limning is pronounced with the "n" sound in the middle.
As I'm sure you can also imagine, my argument at our meeting was for teaching people, instead of assuming or contributing to their ignorance. And ultimately, we came up with a compromise that made everyone happy (hopefully, including the readers): We used the words in question, and we explained their definitions within the text. This week, I encourage you, if you don't know a word, just ask!
© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2010
Showing posts with label changing language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label changing language. Show all posts
Sep 27, 2010
Sep 7, 2009
WORD OF THE WEEK: Sign (Language) of the Times
Happy Labor Day! After a feast with my in-laws today (following yesterday's requisite yard work), I casually perused the internet, looking for a Word of the Week that would allow me to re-address that newbie 'net word pwn from a couple of weeks ago. What I found—a list of New Words for 2009 on Merriam-Webster.com—really jumped out at me: From acai to zip line, the newest dictionary additions speak volumes about what's important or timely in American culture.
But it was some of the words in between that really made me think. Environmentally related words and phrases like carbon footprint, green collar, and locavore (LO-ka-VORE—one who eats locally grown food as often as possible) show a shift in the devil-may-care attitude about the planet that was so prevalent in the Twentieth Century. There are health-related words, like cardioprotective, naproxen, neuroprotective, pharmacogenetics, and phyisatry, that show how proactive we've become about our health care. Our fascination with electronic entertainment, as well as with celebrity, are reflected in such hot new terms as fan fiction, flash mob, frenemy, vlog and webisode. Our global connections are reinforced with the induction of foreign words: goji, haram, reggaeton. Even the economic recession is addressed in something as simple as staycation (stay-KA-SHUN—a vacation spent at home or nearby; possibly popular, I'm assuming, with locavores).
I could go on even more about these newly-added words, but I'll let you look and decide for yourself. What jumps out at you when you read the list?
One more note: Thanks to my friend Chad, who happens to work as a beta-tester for gaming companies (and thanks, too, to a little help from television), I've learned that there are a couple of ways to pronounce pwn: PONE or POON. And there's also a secondary definition, that of a newcomer to a multi-player online game. Whether in its verb form ("I pwned you that round!") or its noun form ("You don't know what you're doing, you pwn"), it's still always an insult. And that's yet another reason for keeping up with the latest language of the times!
© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009
But it was some of the words in between that really made me think. Environmentally related words and phrases like carbon footprint, green collar, and locavore (LO-ka-VORE—one who eats locally grown food as often as possible) show a shift in the devil-may-care attitude about the planet that was so prevalent in the Twentieth Century. There are health-related words, like cardioprotective, naproxen, neuroprotective, pharmacogenetics, and phyisatry, that show how proactive we've become about our health care. Our fascination with electronic entertainment, as well as with celebrity, are reflected in such hot new terms as fan fiction, flash mob, frenemy, vlog and webisode. Our global connections are reinforced with the induction of foreign words: goji, haram, reggaeton. Even the economic recession is addressed in something as simple as staycation (stay-KA-SHUN—a vacation spent at home or nearby; possibly popular, I'm assuming, with locavores).
I could go on even more about these newly-added words, but I'll let you look and decide for yourself. What jumps out at you when you read the list?
One more note: Thanks to my friend Chad, who happens to work as a beta-tester for gaming companies (and thanks, too, to a little help from television), I've learned that there are a couple of ways to pronounce pwn: PONE or POON. And there's also a secondary definition, that of a newcomer to a multi-player online game. Whether in its verb form ("I pwned you that round!") or its noun form ("You don't know what you're doing, you pwn"), it's still always an insult. And that's yet another reason for keeping up with the latest language of the times!
© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009
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