“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – – that’s all.” – Through the Looking Glass
On June 29th of this year, Washington experienced a Derecho, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/derecho-behind-washington-dcs-destructive-thunderstorm-outbreak-june-29-2012/2012/06/30/gJQA22O7DW_blog.html.
A Derecho, prounounced “de ray cho” is Spanish for straight and per Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge, is a “widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms.”
Did you ever see the movie The Truman Show, http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/truman_show/? In The Truman Show, Jim Carey plays Truman Burbank whose life is being recorded 24 hours a day. Everything is in effect make believe in his life and made up around him.
When I heard people talking about and read the write-ups about Washington having a Derecho, that is the feeling I got. I am firmly convinced that before June 29th, 2012, there was no word Derecho and certainly if it did exist it was never used to describe a bunch of thunderstorms. While friends of mine tell me I am wrong, I have assumed they are just in on the plot.
And while I am talking about words, when did people start saying sentences like “I have to process that thought”? When I was a kid no-one ever said a sentence like that.
There were processes that were followed and there was processed cheese, though upon reflection I was never entirely clear about the difference between processed and unprocessed cheese. After all wasn’t cheese created using a process? If cheese wasn’t processed it would still be pre-cheese.
And my most hated phrase “You need to keep hydrated”. When did people start telling others to keep hydrated. I suspect that like Derecho, hydrate was a word created when I wasn’t paying close attention. When I was young there were hydrangea’s, though I never knew which plants they actually were, but no one hydrated let alone needed to be.
I am keeping much closer track about word usage. When I discover who it is that is adding and redefining words, I intend to put a stop to it. Until then, I plan to play along. After all I was really glad to be hydrated when those very straight thunderstorms passed through and I processed thinking about the Derecho.