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Several people have wondered about WHY people create mangled new words when
we already have several good words that mean the same thing.
What worries me is not so much the CREATION of these new words, but the fact
that they rapidly gain currency, particularly among those who "should know
better." If a neologism gains sufficient strength to hang around for a while
and to appear in some "respected" publications, it will eventually wind up
in a dictionary (which is, after all, a history of language). As an aside, I
was fascinated with the book, _The Madman and the Professor_, which has a
different title in the UK. (Sorry Jane C., I don't know the UK title.) It's
the history of the development of the OED.
Anyway, the fact that these words exist and get used by people other than
the creator means that they fill a need. (See the "Sniglets" series of books
for more examples outside the tech comm field.) And language constantly
changes. Even Latin has some new words! (See _Latin for All Occasions_ by
Henry Beard [or Henricus Barbatus, if you prefer.)
I was thinking about this in the shower this morning. (I know, get a life.
And I'm into parentheses this morning.) If it weren't for those changes,
forsooth, we would still be addressing each other as "ye," "thee," and
"thou."
Yea, verily!
Marguerite
Who is now returning to release crunch mode.
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