May 15 2024 - All the Wrong Words

 

There are a lot of words that derive from derogatory and defaming beginnings.  Take "tone deaf" - it is considered sensitive to someone who is actually deaf.  What would we use instead?  The recommendation is "Musically disinclined."  I wonder what to make of that. What about "crippled" - it too is considered  offensive to someone who is disabled even when it is used as a metaphor.  Don't say "crippled by fear" - instead it would be "overtaken by fear". Also on the list is "brainstorm. " Using the term brainstorm could be insensitive to those who have brain injuries or are neurodiverse (term used to describe conditions like autism).   "First-world problem" - is considered a classist description that can dehumanize people in certain areas of the world. I wonder if those people in "certain areas of the world" have issues like we have with these words. Here's an expression - "You're othering somebody" - that is used to describe the derogatory slur implied by gypped which stems from gypsy and demeans people of Romany descent.  While that verb isn't in the Merriam-Webster dictionary you can find the word "unbrother" - to reprise of the status of brother.  "Blackmail" is considered an association with black people.  That's despite the origin which stems from Old English.  It was amply applied in Scotland in various forms - e.g. by plundering chiefs in exchange for immunity from pillage.  That was in the late 1600s.  It was such a useful practice that it became a verb in the 19th century.   Looking over all the words, it seems we would need to start a regular daily routine of "purge a word"- as it would take a while to expunge all the derogatory and discriminating words in use. Maybe there's a board game there.  That brings Fox and the Group Scrabble Game to mind  - likely Fox would consider it marketable to the Woke crowd.   I like this image - it looks like sheet metal all tied up somehow - maybe it got that way from all those wrong expressions.

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Sep 21 2023 - New Words Trending 2023

 

I enjoy new words, so I thought I would get right on it.   Here they are: Micro-Influencer The term “micro-influencer” is one such trendy word that has recently become part of the current language.  JOMO The term JOMO, or “Joy of Missing Out”, has become a popular new English word to describe the pleasure of not having to keep up with the latest trends or activities. Vacation Shaming  Tech Neck Phubbing Goblin Mode  Deplatform  Copypasta  I can't guess what some of these mean.  What is phubbing?  Paying attention to your phone instead of the people you are with. It was coined in 2013.  Goblin Mode: intense focus and productivity when trying to complete a project or task.  The person ignores distractions.  Copypasta - that's copy and paste for large amounts of text online. Let's compare that list with this one: GOAT – Greatest Of All Time Dope – Awesome Sic/Sick – Next Level Cool Lit – Amazing or exciting Gucci – Good or going well Salty – Bitter or angry Litty again – exciting or wild once more Permacrisis – A new word for 2023 that has been created to describe the current state of the world These are from dictionary.com:  Information pollution, jawn, decision fatigue, jolabokaflod, grandfamily, NIL, algo, amalgagender.  There are more HERE.  They describe something called hostile architecture:  design elements of public buildings and spaces that are intended to stop unwanted behavior such as loitering or sleeping in public by making such behavior difficult and uncomfortable. And this one:  it describes a lot of our attitudes right now:  to pessimize - make less good, efficient, fast or functional.  It is the opposite of optimize. As we head into Autumn, there are great views from Moyers Road in Vineland.  there's Toronto on the horizon.

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Feb 7 2023 - Caution with Swear Words

 

Can this be the case?  That 80-90 words a day that a person speaks are curse words.  First person plural pronouns make up 1% and curse words 0.5% to 0.7%.   Here are google questions:  What is the D word? What is the F word? What is the E word? What is the J word? Bing answers the question right away 44 and then 35 English swear words that you should use carefully.  To explore further  these are the headlines: Rare and amusing insults, the alphabet of swearing, 21 amazing forgotten curse words, 21 vintage curse words, 77 of the best dirty words from around the world.  Wikipedia says:  Words currently considered curse words or profanity were common parlance in medieval English.  the use of shit in English is much older, rooted in the Proto-Germanic word skit-, then evolved in Middle English to the word schitte, meaning excrement, and shiten, to defecate. Another profanity, damn, has its origins in Latin, with the word damnum meaning 'to damage, hurt or harm'. There is a big paragraph of swear words in the Urban Dictionary.  Their definition says that swear words are words that can be used to piss people off. And below that definition it says they are words people use when they are not smart enough to think of anything better:  why kids aren't as intelligent these days. Wikipedia in its analytical way says there are five possible types rather than just one  - abusive, cathartic, dysphemistic (conveys that the speaker thinks negatively of the subject matter) , emphatic and idiomatic.   But what is it about Croatia and the  J word? There are so many that they call it the J family. 1) Jebote Translation: f*ck Meaning: oh c'mon / what the f*ck / I can’t believe this / are you hearing this? 2) Jebemu Translation: f*ck it Meaning: this sucks / I’m so sorry / hang in there / sh*t.  3) Jebiga Translation: F*ck it. Meaning: eh / what can you do And so on. There are 10 in all HERE.   The Wiktionary has an alphabetical list of English words HERE.  It seems decidedly incomplete to me.    I was colourizing Florida sand pictures yesterday - they look like aerial shots of landscapes to me.  Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Oct 6 2022 - Most Unique

 

How many variations of unique are there?  Given the definition says "being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else,"  my expectation is none. There are no adjectives to the adjective.  I just saw Bing use the phrase "most unique", so got to wondering how far down the evolutionary path we've gone with this word.  "Truly unique shows up in Collins Dictionary - "You use truly to emphasize that something has all the features or qualities of a particular thing, or is the case to the fullest possible extent.   This is a turn of phrase that is seen in newspaper reporting.  All the examples come from news articles.   There are lots of occurrences of Truly Unique - Disc Golf, a Gift Shop, laser-engraving business,  pasta, beauty boutique.   Unique is a synonym to distinctive, so could something be truly distinctive?  Distinctive's definition -"clearly marking a person or a thing as different from others.  It turns out that there is no "truly distinctive" in Collins Dictionary.  Instead, there is highly distinctive in Collins Dictionary.   Again the examples cited come from news articles. And you can find the two used together - I guess it brings extra emphasis -  "A unique and highly distinctive sofa."   How do you catch a unique rabbit? Unique up on it. How do you catch a tame one? Tame way. Unique up on it. I met a girl named Unique today. She has a twin sister.

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Aug 16 2022 - Words Starting with Trump

 

There are lots of words that start with Trump, as in capital T.  Donald Trump gave rise to a very creative press.     Would the first one be Trumpism?  And along with it Trumpist and Trumpian?  These are terms used to refer to those exhibiting characteristics of Trumpism.  Supporters of Trump are known as Trumpers.  While Trumpism is a well-known phrase, it is considered complex and contentious by wikipedia.   "Trumpism is a term for the political ideologies, social emotions, style of governance, political movement, and set of mechanisms for acquiring and keeping control of power associated with Donald Trump and his political base." Alternately Trumpism describes Donald Trump's made-up words.  This gives rise to articles on how to talk like Trump. The big one for me is the Trumpometer.  This is a seemingly never-ending scrolling list of Donald Trump's lies.  However, it isn't being tracked much anymore.    Next is Trumpocracy - this one is the title of a book written by David From on the corruption the American Republic. From there we have Trumponomics.  This is a high-frequency headline  that reviews Trumps 7 biggest failures.    Trumpocalypse - this is another book by David From.  This time it is about restoring American Democracy and how to rebuild the nation after Trump.  Have I found all the Trump words today?  One would go on to the signature words of Donald Trump.  Perhaps another time.

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May 31 2022 - The "DLE" Rush

 

Now I am thinking that after Wordle and Heardle, we are in for the realm of "DLEs".  There are many opportunities - I did a screen capture from the scrabble entry - it arranges everything by the number of letters - from 4-letter words - idle to 12-letter words timberdoodle.  The12-letter word with DLE - timberdoodle - that is the American woodcock - a bird.    So I got to making up some uses for all these good words. Griddle - I can guess that griddle will be an app that tells you where the gridlock is in the roads in your town or highways.   Tweedle - wouldn't that be finding some sort of Tweet in the vast ocean of Tweets that happen each day based on clues?  Maybe there already is. Enkindle - find the book on Kindle with these clues. Reddle - with all those Reddit posts, I am sure there is a game to find the one that matches the clues. There already are "Oodles of Dles" games.  I found is a listing of 10 games like Wordle.  Here is one list.  Names like Nerdle, Quordle, Framed, Waffle, Crosswordle, Dungleon, Squareword, Squabble, so many fun choices. Another article has 16 games, and then another with 14, and another with 22, and so it goes. The possibilities are numerous, to say the least.  I see one called Absurdle - that sounds just right - find what is absurd in your life with these clues. Our June Calendar encourages  a visit to those blossom trees in fruit.  Here are some wonderful cherries. This is last year's crop - we think this year's will be sparse. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Jan 14 2022 - Wordle of the Day

 

I checked out the news in Google News.  I found this WORDLE, The Daily Game.  I don't normally go to Google News - it is a news aggregator service developed by Google. It presents a continuous flow of links to articles organized from thousands of publishers and magazines. Google News is available as an app on Android, iOS, and the Web.  This is the service opposed  by news organizations and countries over licensing and the lack of it by Google.  They even thought that displaying snippets of content without licensing seemed to be ok.  Where there is licensing, the company is under investigation.  France has fined Google and other countries such as Germany are involved in an antitrust probe. But what we noticed in the News Feed was the Wordle of the Day.  What is Wordle?  The New York Times on January 3rd, 2022 says that it is a love story - a game designed by Josh Wardle in November 2021 for his girlfriend.  It now has over 300,000 players.   "It’s been a meteoric rise for the once-a-day game, which invites players to guess a five-letter word in a similar manner as the guess-the-color game Mastermind. After guessing a five-letter word, the game tells you whether any of your letters are in the secret word and whether they are in the correct place. You have six tries to get it right. Few such popular corners of the internet are as low-frills as the website, which Mr. Wardle built himself as a side project. There are no ads or flashing banners; no windows pop up or ask for money. There is merely the game on a black background". It is based on five-letter words - around 12,000 in English.  Here is what it looks like: Here is the New York Times article about it HERE.  Isn't this a wonderful news story of the day!  A game that will soon become beloved world-wide.  This was a bit of graffiti in St. Catharines.  It has been colourized and given a painterly effect.  All of my manipulation software tools have to be upgraded and uploaded and then tested.  Both Photoshop and Lightroom moved to new releases, and plugins stopped 'plugging in'.   The original is below - itself an interesting image with a graceful composition.

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Nov 9 2021 - Poop and the Poop Deck

 

I send Millie 'outside.' I tell her to poop.  Also to make an M-N-O-Pee. She likes to pee 'on the deck' and often to 'poop on the deck.'  Ok, it is really a patio.  But it made me think about the terms poop and poop deck.  Poop's meaning started as the "stern or aftermost deck of a ship," c. 1400, from Old French poupe "stern of a ship" (14c.), from Old Provençal or Italian poppa, from Latin puppis "poop, stern," a word of uncertain origin. Also "a deck above the ordinary deck on the aftermost part of a ship." As a verb, "to break heavily over the stern of a ship" (of waves, etc.). Poop deck is attested by 1779." "excrement," 1744, a children's euphemism, probably of imitative origin. The verb in this sense is from 1903, but the same word in the sense "to break wind softly" is attested from 1721; earlier "to make a short blast on a horn" (poupen, late 14c.). Meaning "stupid or dull person" is from 1915, but this is perhaps short for nincompoop. Pooper-scooper is attested from 1970. And what about Pooh the bear?  Is that name related to poop and poo? According to the NY Public Library, where the original stuffed animals reside (In the Donnell branch, on West 53rd: "The curious name of Winnie-the-Pooh came from Christopher Robin, from a combination of the names of a real bear and a pet swan. During the 1920s there was a black bear (from Canada) named "Winnie" (after Winnipeg) in the London Zoo who had been the mascot for the Winnipeg regiment of the Canadian army. "Pooh" was the name of a swan in When We Were Very Young." This picture is from the Marie Selby Gardens in Florida.  This statue of a thinker is sitting in a field of wildflowers - orchids.  I realize this angle makes him appear to be sitting on a toilet.  A perfect match for today's word.

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Brexit Now or Y2038?

exit seems similar to Year 2000 to me - a do or die scenario.  Except with Year 2000 we knew we what to do to fix it. We weren't sure how well we would cover everything.  It was a new playing field - dates were 'sprinkled' everywhere in hardware and software. The conclusion today is that it was a better safe than sorry story.  Most at risk areas were transportation (falling planes), nuclear (war) and power facilities (survival kits).  The National Geographic says that Russia, Italy and South Korea had done little to prepare.  Australia and the U.S. prepared a lot.  The estimate was that $400 billion was spent - almost half in the U.S. to upgrade hardware and software.  National Geographic says the question remains open on whether it was warranted or might have been an exaggeration - a 'hoax'.   Since then there have been smaller issues:  In 2012, the addition of an extra second between Saturday and Sunday to account for the slowing rotation of the Earth affected flight check-ins in Australia, and hit popular websites including Yelp and Foursquare. There's one on the horizon:  It is Y2038 - the next Y2K kind of issue.  The year 2038 problem is called the end of UNIX time - it is caused by 32-bit processors and the limitations of the 32-bit systems they power. When the year 2038 strikes 03:14:07 UTC on 19 March, computers still using 32-bit systems to store and process the date and time will run out of space.  Like the Y2K bug, the computers won’t be able to tell the difference between the year 2038 and 1970 – the year after which all current computer systems measure time.  Most computers are now 64-bit systems so this issue lies with older systems.  Like Y2K, the biggest concern is transportation, power and nuclear systems.   Don't these seem so simple in comparison to Britain's "Day of reckoning"?   The Guardian has a live feed that goes 5 minutes ago, 14 minutes ago, 54 minutes ago, etc. It looks like a Y2K countdown.   Should we take the advice on this coffee cup?

Jan 6 - Is it Yanny or Laurel?

Guess what? There are words that are on the 'bad' list for 2019.  CNN's article on banished words is HERE. The organization that is the source of this list of banished words is the Lake Superior State University in Michigan.  This is their 44th list of "Banished Words". "Thought leader, grapple, optics, ghosting and platform all made the 2019 list, which ran heavy on words from the world of politics -- a natural result in the age of Trump. POTUS, FLOTUS, SCOTUS, litigate, collusion and the phrase, "most important election of our time," should also be banned from our daily usage, according to the list. The school in Sault Ste. Marie puts out a list every year of words that should be "banished from the Queen's English" for being overused, misused or just plain useless". The Lake Superior post is HERE.  The Archives of banished words over the decades is HERE. Last year's words included fake news, nothingburger, gig economy, impactful.  The first words, in 1976, included: at this point in time, meaningful, input, macho, scenario, dialogue, call for resignation. For another point of view, I went to Ranker.  Ranker is a site that ranks things.  The voting on words doesn't show large numbers were engaged, but the list is interesting. Here are the top 5 words that were considered overused in 2018.  They are: bae (person's boyfriend or girlfriend) lit (how fun something is) yoked (well muscled) Yass Kween (verbal high five) Bruh (what you say when someone says something stupid) This last one is an interesting story.  It is 'Laurel or Yanny'  and is known as the Yanny or Laurel debate. Do you hear Laurel or Yanny in the audio clip...here is Wikipedia's entry.  It was a Twitter post that went viral and made the headlines in May 2018.  It is an auditory illusion - when the audio clip has been slowed to lower frequencies, then the word "Yanny" has been heard by more listeners,  and while faster, playback loudens "laurel".   And our pictures today:  a framed print one of the collages in my Bark Series.  This is a template from RB to use for promotion.  Following it are the abstract image collages showcasing the shapes and textures to be found in bark.