"Whenever I see 'not a real word' used to stigmatize what is (usually) a perfectly cromulent word, I wonder why the writer felt the need to hang a big sign reading 'I am not confident about my writing' on it. What do they imagine the penalty is for using an 'unreal' word? A ticket from the Dictionary Police? The revocation (as the joke goes) of your poetic license? A public shaming by William Safire? The irony is that most of these words, without the disclaimer, would pass unnoticed by the majority of readers. (In case you noticed cromulent, that was invented in the 1990s for 'The Simpsons.') Writers who hedge their use of unfamiliar, infrequent, or informal words with 'I know that's not a real word,' hoping to distance themselves from criticism, run the risk of creating doubt where perhaps none would have naturally arisen."
-Erin McKean, Boston Globe
Source: BoingBoing
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Not A Real Word...
Posted by Todd Wright at 2:00 PM
Labels: blogging, boing boing, boston globe, erin mckean, internet, writing
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
TO quote Lance Burch... Slaboomby!
Thanks for the quote, Rob.
I was just thinking about this as I was tempted to say to someone, "That word is made up."
... what word is not made up?
It's a shame "slaboomby" never caught on, isn't it?
Lance, any plans to take another go at adding a word to the lexicon?
Hmmm .. I kinda like that word slaboomby.. can someone please use it in a sentence?
Post a Comment