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Panopticonic Defines Salon Magazine

We know “Panopticonic” is not really a word.  “Panopticonic” is really a “word” I invented for my Boles Network Blog by the same name.  When I started the Panopticonic blog, “Panopticonic” appeared nowhere on the internet and that word failed to return any results in a Google search.  I do so love it so, though, when I get a Google Alert in my Inbox showing me that — “Panopticonic” — is being colloquially employed as a “real world” in a real publication like Salon Magazine.

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Blubeekuss is Not a Word

One of the most annoying things in an allegedly literate human world is when a person invents a word for a word that already has meaning and context and then tries to press that definition into others in everyday use.  I’m not talking about words like “Memeingful” or “RelationShaping” or even the colossal “Panopticonic” — all of which have base value in an original colloquial expression — no, I’m talking about “words” like “Blubeekuss” that are made up to be a synonym for “bra.”

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The Definition of Memeingful

On November 27, 2008 — we created this “Memeingful” blog — even though “memeingful” was not a word at that time and meant nothing.  We all knew what a “meme” was thanks to the genius of Richard Dawkins — but “memeingful” was intended to be a dizzy mix of Dawkins and knowing.  We started this blog to create “meaning in the meme.”

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The Definition of WordPunk

Creating ideas and words can help bring home a brand and emboss meaning in the atmosphere of the internet.  When we started this WordPunk blog on August 11, 2007, we were hosted on TypePad and the word — “WordPunk” — really had no divine meaning or intended purpose.

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The Definition of RelationShaping

When we welcomed you here to RelationShaping.com on March 26, 2008, it was a major moment for us as a realization of an idea we had way back on November 10, 2005 in Urban Semiotic as we redefined how we reform each other in a modern world in an article called: “Virtual Relationshaping.”

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You Mean What I Do Not

Words and meaning can create different contexts based on cultural usage alone.  While English speakers prefer to assign blame — “She broke the bowl!” — Spanish and Japanese cultures focus more on the event — “The bowl broke itself.”  That sort of action shifting can make a mess when it comes to universal human understanding and, yet, we wouldn’t want it any other way. 

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Does Fair Mean Unhappy?

Yesterday, during an intensive discussion of murdered doctor George Tiller,
I made this comment concerning the Hegelian idea of tragedy:

As my first attorney told me: “If no one on either side is happy after I write up a contract, then I know I’ve done my job.”

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See the Word Be the Word

If you’re a word lover, then you’ll go bonkers for the fun and learning you can have with Visual Thesaurus.  Just type in your word and you’ll be presented with an associative visual mapping.  In the example below, I keyed in “duplicitous” as my base word.  The various branches extend the meaning and history of the word with other words.  Hover over any of the words in the Visual Thesaurus interactive box and you’ll be presented with extended definitions.



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What Makes a Word Ugly?

Why is it some words and phrases out there are pleasant to hear, while others just grate on the nerve like fingernails scratching against chalk? Am I the only person who has such a passion for certain words and a disdain for others? I surely am not. Let’s look at some of these words, expressions — bon mots — shall we?

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Expressing Fondness

Beware of expressing fondness. 

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