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Seems to me that the big, general, underlying question here is == where
do you draw the line between incorrect usage and normal linguistic
drift?
-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Byfield [mailto:bbyfield -at- axion -dot- net]
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: is "technologies" a word?
On Thu, 2005-29-09 at 12:15 +0100, Alessandro Ansa wrote:
> I would
> say that to preserve its proper meaning and usefulness, it ought to be
> used a little more carefully. I suppose we have a vested interest in
> this since our job titles are a derivative of the word - when
> technology becomes a vague term to describe anything from a mattress
to
> a trained dog, a technical writer is what exactly?
> sources and info.
And a technical writer's job description is concrete and unambiguous
now?
Buzzwords are silly by definition, but any attempt to combat them is
even sillier. You can't stop them, and they die off quickly on their
own. They should be avoided if you care about precision or freshness in
your language, but any greater reaction to them is more than they're
worth.
Personally, I find they appeal to my sense of the ridiculous. They're
entertaining enough that I wouldn't get rid of them even if I had the
power to do so.
"You bought all the props for a world that never was,
Now there's holes in the mirror, and less and less applause,
We are all ungrateful bastards, like a dog that bit your hand,
All these years and you still don't understand."
- OysterBand, "Too Late Now"
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