A great post on NY Times on how language makes everything official – the minute there is a word for it, any action or attitude becomes universally recognised and acceptable.
Overly Wired? There’s a Word for It
Was there gridlock before there were automobiles? Was there jet lag before there were airplanes? Who was the first person to say “I Googled it” or “he’s cyberstalking me”? At what moment did a “web log” turn into a “blog”?
[image courtesy : NY Times article]
Lisa Belkin, writing on Dr.Hallowell’s original list of words, adds a few more interesting ones of her own – here are a couple I could identify with immediately…
– Cellopain: the jerk who talks loudly and obliviously on his cellphone in a crowd. There are other words for this person, but they are not printable.
– Logonorrhea: a related condition that renders you unable to use certain online accounts because you can remember neither your screen name nor your password.
Read the entire list here. As an aside, you need to register at the NY Times site and log in to read some of their articles – I would do it except I cannot remember my log in name and/or password. huh? So here is hoping the link I have provided here works!
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Cross-posted on mindspace
a common misconception but blog was not shortened from web blog but instead from weblog. Small but significant difference.