Author: Kirk

“Residual Value”

Devolution toward Simpler, Euphemisms

I saw this phrase in a Range Rover advertisement on television this morning.

The adjective “residual” seems to have been adopted by Land Rover as a euphemism for the adjective “resale”.

The adjective “resale” could have sounded too cheap to the advertising decision-makers at Land Rover.

Or Land Rover’s advertising team might have decided that the adjective “resale” reminds new-car buyers that one day they will be selling those cars.

And reminding a new-car buyer that one day he or she will sell that car probably is not something that a car manufacturer wants at the top of a buyer’s mind.

Contrary to my “Devolution toward Simpler” linguistic hypothesis, it seems that Land Rover preferred a four-syllable, eight-character word over a two-syllable, six-letter word that says the same thing.

But that is a frequent characteristic of euphemisms: People go out of their way to avoid what they believe will be perceived negatively.

If you find yourself saying or writing a longer word when you know that a shorter word will express the same thing, notice whether you are trying to hide a negative perception behind that longer word.

“sequenced dress”

Mispronunciations, Nouns, Verbs

I heard about this phrase yesterday at a party.

Problem:
The modifier of “dress” is incorrect.

Explanation:
My friends Erik and Nickie F. told me yesterday about this phrase.

It seems that someone was trying to refer to a dress made of sewn-together sequins.

Apparently the originator of the phrase “sequenced dress” heard the plural noun “sequins” — spelled S-E-Q-U-I-N-S — perhaps mispronounced as the verb “sequence” — spelled S-E-Q-U-E-N-C-E — and then added a “d” to make it an adjective to modify the noun “dress”.

The potential for things to go astray in the English language never ceases to amaze me.

Solution:
“sequined dress”

“pixilation” vs. “pixelation”

Nouns, Versus

I saw a technical document refer to “pixilation” when it should have referred to “pixelation” instead.

Problem:
The nouns “pixilation” and “pixelation” are not synonyms.

Explanation:
I was reviewing some technical documents about a month ago.

They referred to “picture pixilation” in the television signals coming from various set-top boxes.

They should have used “pixelation” — spelled P-I-X-E-L-A-T-I-O-N — instead of “pixilation” — spelled P-I-X-I-L-A-T-I-O-N.

The noun “pixie” — spelled P-I-X-I-E — was coined in the early 1600s to refer to a sprite or fairy, especially a mischievous one.

So the primary meaning of the noun “pixilation” is the state or quality of being pixilated — spelled P-I-X-I-L-A-T-E-D — which is an Americanism from the mid-1800s that combines the word “pixie” with the word “titillated” to mean amusingly silly, prankish, or whimsical.

The noun “pixel” — spelled P-I-X-E-L — was coined in the late 1960s as something of a contraction of “picture element” to refer to the smallest element of an image that can be managed and presented by a video display system.

And the primary meaning of the noun “pixelation” is the display of a digitized image such that the pattern of pixels is obvious to the naked eye.

Solution:
Think “pixie” when using “pixilation”. Think “pixel” when using “pixelation”.