A Lingovation is a newly-created, freshly-coined word, often comprised of a hybrid or contraction of several existing words, which comes into being when no other single existing word or word combination (and sometimes not even an entire paragraph!) can precisely express or capture the essence of a thought or sentiment. They are not nonsensical terms, and must indeed be taken very seriously. They are very closely related to neologisms, but tend to be more specific in their applicability and less a part of media pop-culture.
1) Terms such as "Staycation," "Stagflation," and "Jobless Recovery" (coined by incredibly imaginative economists) are neologisms, and not Lingovations.
2) In contrast, some exceptionally popular Lingovations include Omnigadget, Hyper-hyphenation, Technullity, Moronym and others. Go ahead. Google 'em. I am hopeful that some day, the verb form, Lingovate it will be in common usage.
History [In the style of Wikipedia]:
The seminal term Lingovation, created by the modest, brilliant and occasionally controversial Douglas E Castle, is actually a compounded contraction of two words: "Innovation" and "Linguistics". Ironically, the term itself is eponymous, which is a word that only English teachers (55 years and over), doctoral candidates (wasting time in the current economy) and geeky fans of etymology [which is the study of the origins of words, and not the study of bugs, which is entomology, or the study of pastries and cakes, which could be called Entenmannology*].
-------------------
* A clever play on words. Incidentally, have you ever savored a chocolate glazed Entenmann's donut with either a glass of cold milk (assuming that you are were not lactose-intolerant at the time) or a cup of hot, sweet coffee?
Certified Affirmation:
I swear (too frequently) that this Article, posted on 8th August 2011, is the most authoritative writing available on the captioned subject. at this date.
Douglas E Castle
Lingovator, Lingovationist, and Lingovisor.
Also: Chairman, TNNWC Management Consulting Services
A brief word from the sponsor of this article, Albert Einstein, who is deceased at the moment, having suffered (I suspect, although this is has not been proven) at least one too many electroconvulsive therapy treatments, but who was a bright fellow, albeit a bit unkempt:
My photograph, in stark contrast, follows, for your dossier or dartboard:
 | |
| Lingovator, Educator and Negotiator | . |
0 comments:
Post a Comment