What Language Are You Speaking?

Anyone who did not grow up on computers has seen the evolution of our language and methods of marketing.

Think back to about 15 or 20 years ago when no one had yet coined, let alone spoken, so many of the words and terms that today are part of everyday conversations.   The only paper dictionary I own is the same one I used many years ago in college.  Try looking up these recently-created words in a 25-year-old dictionary and you’ll see that most do not appear.

One of my favorite recently- coined words is “blog.” Isn’t that the sound people make right before they “lose their stomach?”  (Sorry, rather gross, I know.)  It isn’t enough that blog is an odd-sounding word, but it started out as a noun and “morphed” into a verb as well.  Right now I am “blogging.”

Before the blog was created, Google came on the scene.  Google is not just a website, but a search “engine.”  Until the early 1990’s, an engine was generally considered “a machine that converted an energy source into mechanical power or motion.”  And then, of course, Google too evolved into a verb, as in, “Why don’t you google it?”

A gigabyte today is commonly known as a gig.  The word “gigabyte” isn’t in my college dictionary, and a gig was defined as a carriage-type vehicle or a boat.  While I am on that subject, gigabyte isn’t in my dictionary either.  Had I heard the word years ago, I believe I would have thought it was some kind of dance.

Another word that was once only a noun but is now a verb is “text.”  “Text me the number.”  “Do not text while driving.” 

I have a friend who has chosen not to have ever used a computer or the internet.  Several years ago, she was adamant about it.  In the last year or so, however, she says she feels as though people are speaking a foreign language on television.  What TV program or product sold on TV today doesn’t have a Facebook page and its own website? 

I could probably write a Kindle book about all the newly created words… A book that contains no paper or fiber of any kind?  I guess that will have to wait for another article (a word that still means what it always did!).

To learn more about Julie and her business, Xpress Healthcare, visit:  http://julie.joinxpress.com/business.html