OnWords

OnWords: How Scandals Keep The Irrelevant Relevant

Lael Ewy — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:30:00 +0000

Aside from being the name of a long-forgotten New Wave band, scandal has become the primary means for the party out of power to stay relevant on the political scene.

OnWords: Is Childhood Innocence Only For Grown-Ups?

Lael Ewy — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Innocence is much more about a grown-up sense of loss than a precious quality of childhood. At best, our ideas about innocence evoke a pining sort of regret; at worst, they're used to make nostalgia a form of tyranny.

After all, it's a child's job to grow up, and so he's active every day trying to lose that innocence that he sees as keeping him away from adult freedom and power. Our attempts to preserve that child's innocence just reinforce his sense of powerlessness. This only serves to exacerbate his little rebellions, his need to prove how grown up he is.

OnWords: Jargon Is Sometimes Necessary, Sometimes Annoying

Lael Ewy — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Even if we can agree that jargon is absolutely necessary, we still can't help but be annoyed by it.

Every profession has jargon: specialties and sub-specialties are shot-through with special terms like “endoplasmic reticulum” or “moment of inertia” particular to them.

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.

The Human Factor: The Real Danger Of Cell Phones

Joseph R. Keebler — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Many states have either outlawed or about to outlaw the use of cell phones while driving. But the real dangers of cell phone use while driving are not as obvious as they may seem.

The real danger lies in how the human mind functions.

Oftentimes individuals will explain that they use a “hands-free” headset or in car Bluetooth system. Many times people think that this resolves distraction issues because they believe that it’s the physical interaction with the device itself that causes the problem.

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.