Awkward Language Today
Following up on this morning’s observation, here are some examples of awkward language as a sign of innovation or change:
- Smart Phone: This is a horrible phrase because it has no opposite. ‘Feature phone’ is a nonsense euphemism used by people who work for carriers and device makers. ‘Dumb phone’ is dismissive term used by smart phone users, who can’t comprehend why someone doesn’t operate as they do.
- Mobile: This partially explains ‘smart phone’: the best term for the small communication devices everyone carries in their pockets is also the vaguest term. Mobile as a qualifier can refer to a home or a phone. We’re going to need something better.
- Professional: Specifically to denote a level of skill. What do you call your friend who takes your favorite photos? Is he a ‘professional photographer’? ‘Professional’ once was an easy marker for quality. But as access to better tools for production and publishing increases, ‘professional’ once again is better suited to denote someone whose job is performing a task. This especially holds true for writers (remember when self publishing carried the ‘vanity publishing’ moniker?).
- Tumblr: Watching a passionate Tumblr user try to explain Tumblr (or his Tumblr/blog/feed/whatever) to the uninitiated involves a lot of dancing around the terms ‘blog’, ‘forum’, and ‘social network.’
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challengingduelism reblogged this from dbreunig and added:
that post, but I would add: Liberal...word used in political parlance to describe someone...
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sketchdan liked this
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jstn liked this
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kellysutton said:
Professional is the opposite of amateur. It’s used as denotation as to whether someone received money for the service/product. The lines have blurred though. Some of my favorite photographers are amateurs and a lot of professionals suck.
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dbreunig posted this
