(Wow, I grok what you're saying, but this post is 75% of the way to being A Clockwork Orange. XD)
But WORDS, yay! The problem with any terminology that relies so heavily on context is that it's so dependent on the author knows their audience enough to know that they'll be able to infer whatever subtle connotations the author's carefully chosen words imply. That probably goes without saying, but I consider it more elegant to evoke a strong mental image or visceral reaction with a few common, short words than one single more esoteric term. (I used to think "emeraldine" was a perfectly valid term for a deep, lustrous shade of green, I mean god wtf, me?)
Even before semantic drift kicks in, there's a connotation drift kicking in. I still clearly remember a time when "queer" was an acceptable synonym for "strange" and not completely supplanted by the modern definition of "LGBT issues." So I guess the point I'm trying to make is, by the time "grep" becomes common parlance, the rest of the sentence that word fits perfectly in will all be antiquated. ;P
...first, I think this kind of, in a roundabout way, speaks to the difficulty that science fiction writers face when they try to spin up a jargon or set of science-y words for their universe
I think I remember Anthony Burgess (the guy who wrote Clockwork Orange) saying he invented such an out-there slanguage in order to keep it timeless and unfamiliar. To avoid the linguistic equivalent of zeerust I guess.
On a side note, not knowing any of the context, I probably would have translated those chap. titles as something a little less esoteric: "Ordeal #" or "Catharsis #", maybe? Trade some of the connotation of literal movement/grasping towards a goal for a more clearly metaphorical movement forward. Plus "grope" is just a terrible chapter title, I mean really.
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Date: 2013-10-26 06:29 am (UTC)But WORDS, yay! The problem with any terminology that relies so heavily on context is that it's so dependent on the author knows their audience enough to know that they'll be able to infer whatever subtle connotations the author's carefully chosen words imply. That probably goes without saying, but I consider it more elegant to evoke a strong mental image or visceral reaction with a few common, short words than one single more esoteric term.
(I used to think "emeraldine" was a perfectly valid term for a deep, lustrous shade of green, I mean god wtf, me?)Even before semantic drift kicks in, there's a connotation drift kicking in. I still clearly remember a time when "queer" was an acceptable synonym for "strange" and not completely supplanted by the modern definition of "LGBT issues." So I guess the point I'm trying to make is, by the time "grep" becomes common parlance, the rest of the sentence that word fits perfectly in will all be antiquated. ;P
...first, I think this kind of, in a roundabout way, speaks to the difficulty that science fiction writers face when they try to spin up a jargon or set of science-y words for their universe
I think I remember Anthony Burgess (the guy who wrote Clockwork Orange) saying he invented such an out-there slanguage in order to keep it timeless and unfamiliar. To avoid the linguistic equivalent of zeerust I guess.
On a side note, not knowing any of the context, I probably would have translated those chap. titles as something a little less esoteric: "Ordeal #" or "Catharsis #", maybe? Trade some of the connotation of literal movement/grasping towards a goal for a more clearly metaphorical movement forward. Plus "grope" is just a terrible chapter title, I mean really.