KOCHI: Finally, the Bharat Jodo Yatra threw up some interesting stuff from Kashmir. Nuggets for discussions on two words, the JP Movement, and word games. It started with a word hook from researcher-journalist Abhijit Iyer-Mitra’s scathing analysis of a recent, cloying interview with Rahul Gandhi. In an uncharitable Twitter thread, Abhijit writes: “His undeniable affability is passed off as perspicacity — which it is not.”
Soon, wordists caught on to ‘perspicacity’, which means “the ability to understand things quickly and make accurate judgments”. The adjective perspicacious means “having the power of seeing through, sharp-sighted” or “of persons, their faculties, etc.: of clear or penetrating mental vision or discernment”.
Next, a journalist friend from the northeast commented that the yatra turned out to be a “damp squib” in a chat group, even as there were grumbles that the media was not giving it positive coverage. Meanwhile, another wicked one from Mumbai jutted in: “Moist is the apt word.”
That led to a discussion on how ‘moist’ has been a much-hated word. The fellow journalist went on to post a recent Los Angeles Times article by June Casagrande – author of The Joy of Syntax: A Simple Guide to All the Grammar You Know You Should Know – on ‘moist’.
“Sometime around the early- to mid-2000s, countless thousands of people decided they hate the word ‘moist’. Some had probably hated it all along. Others were clearly jumping on a bandwagon…,” she writes. According to her research, the word “has been in steady decline for over a century but took a big dip around 2010”.
“It’s unclear whether writers are avoiding the word “moist” because they dislike it or because they know readers do, but either way there’s a lesson here: When writing, choose your words carefully,” adds June. In fact, ‘moist’ had emerged the topper in a New Yorker survey on the most disliked words back in 2012. Interestingly, researchers at Oberlin College and Trinity University in the US even did a study on why people hated the poor little word.
“Participants who didn’t like the word ‘moist’ also didn’t like words such as ‘phlegm,’ ‘vomit,’ and ‘diarrhea’ — suggesting that a big part of why people hate the word so much is its connotations to bodily fluids,” notes an analyst.
This sort of dislike for certain words, I am told, is called logomisia aka word aversion or verbal virus. University of Pennsylvania linguistics professor Mark Liberman defines it as “a feeling of intense, irrational distaste for the sound or sight of a particular word or phrase, not because its use is regarded as etymologically or logically or grammatically wrong, nor because it’s felt to be over-used or redundant or trendy or non-standard, but simply because the word itself somehow feels unpleasant or even disgusting.”
Eventually, the moisty discussion ended with a comparison between Bharat Jodo Yatra and Jayaprakash Narayan’s ‘Sampoorna Kranti’ movement against Rahul’s grandmother, Indira Gandhi, in the 1970s.
We called it a night, agreeing on the relevance of reading The Dream of Revolution: A Biography of Jayaprakash Narayan (Bimal Prasad and Sujata Prasad), which was released last year. We also revisited our campus-time discovery, Selected Works of Jayaprakash Narayan (Edited by Bimal Prasad). I could boast I still have five volumes in my library. Though a little dusty, the writings reflect deep political thought and intent, the kind that differentiates between fluff and stuff.
This morning, as a follow-up to the wordy discussions last night, a news link posted in the chat group informs that Merriam-Webster has acquired Wordle clone Quordle, in which one has to guess four five-letter words in nine chances.
That means the renewed interest in word games that peaked during the pandemic crisis has not died down. Reports note, though not as popular as Wordle, Quordle attracts “half a million daily players”. And Merriam-Webster president Greg Barlow says his editors “look forward to playing along with the millions of Quordle fans every day”.
Personally, however, my all-time favourite remains the Jumble, which was created in 1954 by ace illustrator Martin Naydel, who is known for his comic creations, including the Green Lantern. In 2014, David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek took over the task.
I still remember sitting beside my late father as he solved the long-running Jumble in the Express. It gradually evolved as a daily ritual. Switching on the word blender in the brain gives small highs that make the morning cuppa more exciting.
Okay, time for me to spring clean my library. Leaving you with some new-year additions to the Oxford dictionary. Have a warm, not-so-moist week ahead!
Apeth: “A foolish or silly person.”
Barber’s cat: “A cat kept by a barber. In similative phrases, invoking various attributes or characteristics associated with such a cat, as loquaciousness…”
Block-rocking: “Of music or a piece of music: having an energetic, lively rhythm that is conducive to dancing or partying
Buycott: “Originally: a form of protest in which participants encourage using a particular company, business, etc., often as counterreaction to a boycott…”
Captain Obvious: “(a sarcastic or disparaging name for) someone who makes an obvious or superfluous statement.”
Dap/dapping: “The action or practice of greeting or acknowledging someone with a casual gesture, typically involving slapping palms, bumping fists, or snapping…”
Final girl: “(in horror films, esp. slasher films) A stock female character who survives to defeat or evade the attacker after the other characters have been killed, and who is typically portrayed as intelligent, serious, cautious, and chaste.”
Gay village: “An urban area with a significant gay population and a high concentration of businesses catering primarily to this community”
Homicide-suicide: “(a) Involving both homicide and suicide; (b) the action or an act of committing homicide immediately before, or at the same time as, killing oneself.”
Model minority: “A minority racial or ethnic group whose members are considered to be particularly successful or thriving within the dominant culture or society.”
Mononym: “A one-word name (typically a given name or nickname) by which someone, esp a celebrity, is known.” Pele, for example
Morninger: “A newspaper published for sale or distribution in the morning; a morning paper.”
Mushed: “Reduced to or made into a mush; mashed. In extended use: having a squashed appearance.
Also in mushed-up.”
Parasocial: “Designating a relationship characterized by the one-sided, unreciprocated sense of intimacy felt by a viewer, fan, or follower for a well-known or prominent figure (typically a media celebrity), in which the follower or fan comes to feel (falsely) that they know the celebrity as a friend”; a parasocial relationship/interaction
Porch Pirate: “A person who steals parcels that have been delivered and left unattended outside the intended recipient’s home”
Pinkie promise: “A promise made while linking one’s little finger with that of another person, and regarded as especially binding or sincere.” (From children’s lingo)
Slave factory: “A workshop, factory, or other establishment where workers are employed at very low wages or without pay for long hours and under poor conditions.”
Textspeak: “Language regarded as characteristic of text messaging and other forms of electronic communication, often consisting of abbreviations, acronyms, emojis, etc.”