Lael Ewy

OnWords: The Real Cost Of Austerity

Lael Ewy — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:42:59 +0000

When we say something is austere, we evoke everything from an image of monastic poverty to the stark beauty of Modernist design. Because of this, “austerity” as a fiscal policy brings with it the suggestion of a deliberate and disciplined approach to a nation's economy.

OnWords: Do You Have A Sense Of Entitlement?

Lael Ewy — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:00:00 +0000

The recent history of the word “entitlement” shows how a word’s connotation can take over its existence and taint everything it touches.

As opposed to its denotation, or dictionary definition, a word’s connotation is about the associations we have with a word. In the case of the word entitlement, it’s almost all negative.

The phrase “sense of entitlement” is at fault for this negative connotation.

OnWords: That's So Meta

Lael Ewy — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Formerly a prefix, “meta” has now taken on a life of its own, indicating works that are self-consciously self-referential. Ben Zimmer, writing in the Boston Globe in 2012, notes examples in the tech field going as far back as the 1970s.

OnWords: The Contradiction Of Myths

Lael Ewy — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:00:00 +0000

We use the word “myth” in at least two almost contradictory ways. Most commonly, we use myth to mean falsehood, a hoax without the intention to deceive.

This is the myth sites like snopes.com and shows like Mythbusters serve to dispel. It is also a product of the Age of Enlightenment, when a seemingly rational universe called not for myth but for measurement.

OnWords: Functions Of Lying

Lael Ewy — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 17:17:32 +0000

The most powerful lies aren’t the day-to-day, so-called white lies--that we’re ”fine” or that we genuinely care if complete strangers “have a good one.” These are, in fact, sometimes important parts of being polite.

OnWords: Ideology, Love It Or Hate It?

Lael Ewy — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:00:00 +0000

The conflicted and often contradictory ways Americans use the word “ideology” reveals the conflicted and often contradictory ways we view ourselves.

OnWords: Disorder Is Often Quite Orderly

Lael Ewy — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:30:00 +0000

The word “disorder” gets thrown around a lot in diagnostic circles, but it rarely accurately describes what's going on.

OnWords: Momentum

Lael Ewy — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:30:00 +0000

“Momentum” is a word that we don’t usually think of as having a technical origin, even though we hear it used a lot by reporters during election season. A typical use would be something like “Senator Belfry’s campaign seems to have gained momentum following his recent speech to the Bloom County Chamber of Commerce.” There seems to be nothing technical about that.

OnWords: Proper English

Lael Ewy — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:30:00 +0000

What we consider correct or proper English has long been bound up in class distinctions. Prior to the advent of public education, this was much more obvious than it is now. Proper English defined itself as the English used by proper people. “Real” English was the English of aristocrats, thus the phrase “The Queen's English,” which is still with us today.

But even in the supposedly classless or at least socially mobile U.S., we tend to attribute correctness to the social “winners”: educated, urban, northerners, preferably those from “old money.”