NEW WORDS
We all like to discover and start using new words.
I recall a time when people working in the entertainment world used which was, to mean, at least, a new way to let it be known they were going “on vacation” or planned to “take a few days off” and we, at home, always envied them such trips and chances to “get away from it all.”
I don't remember where I first read the term or heard it, but I think it was in the “Coming and Going” section of “Advertising Age” a trade paper I read with regularity at the time. I found that personalities were, instead of vacationing “going on hiatus”. Pretty soon I started hearing it in radio. If people where planning to be away for a time, they were “taking a hiatus” or going on one. I used to right along in the press releases I wrote for the firm at the time.
Then, suddenly “hiatus” was gone. It was beaten to death by overuse.
New words can cause trouble, too.
Our city had just completed an election and this, too, happened years ago.
We woke up on morning to find we had a new Mayor. He was a proverbial “new broom” and shortly after election he headed up a city wide campaign to get citizens to clean up their property to make our community “a better place to live in” - as the new Mayor put it.
To kick the campaign off he asked for time on the air and we granted it willingly as a public service. He arrived only a moment ahead of the scheduled air time He was seated at a table at once in a small “news” studio. He had a prepared script in hand. We went to the Main Control Room which was on the other side of a large gx;lass window in front of him. The announcer was going to introduce the Mayor from the console.
After the turning of knobs called "pots"; the switching of on-and-off microphone toggles the Mayor greeting one and all with a fine, cheeerful “Good Morning” and in classic "Cheerful-Charlie" tones. He invited them to join with him in starting the Clean Up campaign. He was cheerful, he was talkative, and we felt it was going to go very well, indeed, far better than we had expected. He turned, then,.to the readinog his speech.
“We can all be proud of the many beautiful streets we have in our fine city,” he began ,”But, I but I have noticed one thing about them – maybe you have seen it, too they are filled with “deb -riss.”
The good mayor hit that new word with fervor and pride, too. He did so with his very best arm-swinging gesture of declamation. He emblazoined "DEB-ress" on the air waves in all of it's distinctive newness! We cringed. We gearzed he would use it again...maybe even more than that! He did. I know he hit it dozen or more times and we took the usual method of trying to get him to change. A note was a printed in large block-letters and held against the window which he faced. It read: "DEBRIS = DEH-BREE" Knowing that he might not lookup to see the warning, we hand-carried a copy of the note around to the studio and the placed it in front of him. HE glanced at thenote,s miled and thanks he curior and us for reminding him to mention the prime need which was to get rid of the deb-riss which was cluttering our streets!
We agonized through the remaining portion of the deluge.
Having said your new word once, refrain, if you can, from using it for a while. And, by all means, learn how to how to pronounce it before you do either.
He made a good enough Mayor, too, by the way. He was a real, fine back-slapper. His "New Broom City Wide Clean-Up" campaign was also a success.
A.L.M. January 8, 2003 [c671wds]
