RE: (Slight) HUMOUR: Banned Words

[APEERY -at- FAMILYDOLLAR -dot- COM]

(comments interspersed below)

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Bruce Byfield [SMTP:bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com]
> Sent:	Wednesday, November 07, 2001 4:08 PM
> To:	APEERY -at- FAMILYDOLLAR -dot- COM
> Cc:	TECHWR-L
> Subject:	Re: (Slight) HUMOUR: Banned Words
> 
> >I think these are two aspects of the same phenomenon: linguistic
> >self-aggrandizement.  I think we all do this to some extent.  (Note my
> use
> >of "self-aggrandizement"!)  The "priests", those with extensive knowledge
> of
> >language, wield their vocabulary partly with an eye to being impressive,
> >even if unconsciously.  The "laity", those without well-developed
> language
> >skills, try to achieve the same effect by coining new words.
> >
> Personally, I like to think of myself as being in the third class, the 
> artisians, whose knowledge is greater than that of the priests, but who 
> use their knowledge for practical purposes rather than to show off.
> 
	Maybe a different model is called for...:)

	Ok, there's two types of people: 1.) those with self-esteem low
enough to use any and all means to try to make themselves look (or at least
feel) superior; and 2.) those whose self-esteem is high enough that they do
not (often) engage in this behavior.  I believe that there are just as many
of type 1 in the Priest group as in the laity group.  (Okay, I'm now
regretting the whole Priest-laity thing - it isn't really working too well.)
Language is one background against which both types act out their
perceptions.

> As for the so-called laity, I wouldn't dismiss its language skills so 
> quickly. There's many popular ballads and songs that show more of a feel 
> for language than anything ever written by the priests...
> 
	Ah, but those with a "feel for language" are by my definition
Priests.  Priests don't have to be grammatically proper; they just have to
have language skill of some kind.  For instance, I would define some rappers
as Priests, though they sometimes garble the English language beyond (my
admittedly limited) recognition.  I see rappers as engaged in a collective
word-coining frenzy, the results of which they have extensive knowledge.  In
their milieu, they are Priests for me.  The laity are those who find it
difficult to accomplish what they want with language: the illiterate, the
unintelligent, the involuntarily ignorant.

> I can't help 
> thinking that the laity has the right idea: it uses language for its 
> purposes, rather than letting the language use them. The priests use 
> language as a weapon for status, and usually prefer to be right rather 
> than effective.
> 
	Techwriting tie-in: I think a lot of the really bad docs I've come
across might be the result of the writer trying to sound like a "Priest."
That's probably an oversimplification, but it's something to guard against
in our writing.

> -- 
> Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
> 
> "The gates of hell are guarded by a pair of vicious dogs,
> And Hannibal was thwarted by some flaming Roman hogs
> Me, I was defeated by the ferry schedule
> Now I'm standing on the dockside in twenty pounds of sopping wool."
> -James Keelaghan, "Departure Bay"
> 
> 
> 
> 

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