Of netois and other irritainment
It seems a really obvious statement that technology has changed the way we communicate. But what’s always fascinated me is power of technology over our very vocabulary. If language is, at one level, merely a tool that we use to come to grips with our environment (words literally give shape to reality), then its stands to reason that each technological advance brings with it a slew of new vocabulary to be learnt assimilated and mastered.
UPDATE: France seems understand better than others might do.
See this article from Gamerant: France bans gaming words
An obvious example is the ultra-telegraphed cell-phone sms-lingo. I’ve never gotten it myself –always preferring to send text messages in the Queen’s own English, as it were. But just because I’m a pompous anglophile, doesn’t make it any less valid. I’m going to spare us all the pain of any examples, but I will point out that there is even a translator (or should that be transl8tr?) on the web claiming a lexicon of over 500 words and abbreviations (click to http://smspup.com/smsSpeak.php).
An obvious example is the ultra-telegraphed cell-phone sms-lingo. I’ve never gotten it myself –always preferring to send text messages in the Queen’s own English, as it were. But just because I’m a pompous anglophile, doesn’t make it any less valid. I’m going to spare us all the pain of any examples, but I will point out that there is even a translator (or should that be transl8tr?) on the web claiming a lexicon of over 500 words and abbreviations (click to http://smspup.com/smsSpeak.php).
But enough of that. I really want to bring attention to a few very real words that have not only inculcated themselves into society, but have in fact become so integral to our everyday lives that it’s hard not imagine a world without them.
Podcast. Zine. Rez. Blog. Cyberspace. Metaverse. Ask your grandmother what a wireless is. Or just try sticking an “e” on the beginning of any word, and see how its meaning evolves. Even the word “virus” has taken on a completely new and sinister definition in these days of the Internet and interconnectedness. And what is “netiquette,” when all is said and done?
The word that ended up rattling around inside my brain, and indeed spawned this article, is the somewhat confused “edutainment.” I’ve heard it bandied about quite a lot in recent times, and it seems like an apology for something. Like we feel the need to pretend that something is really something it’s not. Are we still so suspicious of the Internet that we can’t possibly conceive of anything really useful coming out of it? Or is education so unpalatable that we need to somehow sugar coat it?
“Infotainment” is another such word. Like we have to justify our acquisition of technology on the basis of some puritanical value system.
Think about it, and while you do, I’ll leave you with a few really groovy neologisms I’ve found while surfing, and that couldn’t possibly have come about without the aid of technology.
Copyrighteousness:- feeling of superiority based on our own responsible copyright actions.
- Netois: patois for the Net
- Grammar slack:- tolerance of net lingo and sms-speak
- Mouse Potato:- Couch potato for the Internet age
- Treeware:- Books, printed material
- Irritainment:- I think this one is self-explanatory
Do you have any more to add? Let me know.