Tag Archives: naming

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Tuesday, 11 September 2012

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Sociolinguistics, Vocabulary

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When words aren’t good enough, we just need a date.

Once again, the same as this day one year ago, I did not plan or expect to be writing anything to mark the anniversary of terrorist attacks. However, an idea had been planted and, without my realizing it until I got home on Monday night, it grew into something bigger that demanded the light.

A few days ago on her Facebook page, an old friend of mine expressed her surprise when she realized the official name that had been assigned to the calendar date of September 11: Patriot Day. Her first instinct was to be annoyed. “WTF is Patriot Day? A sugar coated version of a terrorist attack?” she asked.

She’s not the only one to be either surprised or annoyed at the name change. Continue reading →

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Friday, 26 August 2011

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Vocabulary

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Hurricane Ironic?

The word on the street is that we had an earthquake on the East Coast. It was even felt up here in New York, though not by me. It was apparently more noticeable in New York City, but in the surrounding area, experiencing the earthquake depended on being near the coast, on a higher floor in a building, or in bed staring at the ceiling.

Not to be outdone, of course, Hurricane Irene has decided that she needs attention, and so talk has turned from the fairly anti-climactic ‘earthquake’ to the exciting new prospect of floods, felled trees, and power outages. It is claimed that Irene will be the worst storm in the area since 1938.

As far as natural disasters go, we in the Northeast of the United States usually have it easy. Blizzards, sure, but an earthquake and a hurricane? In the same week? Might it really be the end of the world as we know it? Continue reading →