Essays, Chyrons, Babies and Other Indigestible Things

I read some essays written by teenagers this week. They were, for the most part, pretty good. 

However... I couldn't help but feel nostalgic for the days when a thesaurus wasn't just a single mouse click away.

Not that I'm against using a thesaurus to search for the 'perfect' word, of course - a word that more finely captures the nuances of what you want to say. It's just that, these days, people don't seem to care so much about finding the right word, as finding a longer, more intellectual sounding word, with which to gussy up their writing. 

I suspect that some don't even bother to check the exact meaning of the new word, before clicking 'accept'.

Take an example I found in one of the essays: the writer used words like pontificate and ameliorate in a sentence that (I think) sets out to say: 'Let's consider how the situation could be improved'.

What bugged me the most, was the fact that the writer clearly hadn't bothered to look up the definition of 'pontificate', which is: 'to speak in a pompous or dogmatic manner'*, though, ironically, it was rather apt, as pompous was exactly how the sentence sounded. 

There were other examples, in other essays. In some cases, large clusters of obscure/complex/important sounding words were used in long multi-clause sentences to say something so simple, that I had to read the sentences a couple of times to make sure there wasn't a hidden meaning. There wasn't.

As I worked through the stack, a memory of a long-ago tea party popped unbidden into my mind: The tea party in question had been organised to celebrate the long awaited visit of someone's sister - a very forthright and outspoken lady. Unfortunately for all concerned, the visitor sat next to the chatterbox of the group. 

As the afternoon progressed, the visitor became visibly irate at the unceasing stream of machine gun chatter being directed at her. Several times she tried to interject, and failed. Finally, she'd had enough. Surging to her feet, she spat out, "God! Did you swallow a radio for breakfast or something?!" and stomped off, leaving an uncomfortable silence.

I guess I must have been feeling irritated too, as it was her remark that came back to me as I shuffled through the papers. Only, in my mind, the word 'radio' had been replaced by the word 'thesaurus'... and it was followed by the uncharitable thought that, though a thesaurus had been swallowed, it clearly hadn't been fully digested!

However, having slept on it, I see things in a more charitable light, now. As regular readers of this blog know, I'm occasionally guilty of using a big word myself (though never in an attempt to make myself seem more erudite... er, I mean, clever...), and I love looking up the etymology of different words (remember this?), so I had to concede that it must be a good thing that kids are actively trying to expand their vocabulary. 

Just as long as they don't lose sight of the fact that long and complicated isn't necessarily better than simple, lucid and concise, and that words grouped together in a thesaurus don't always mean the same thing.

Speaking of expanding one's vocab, I added a word to my vocabulary too this week. The word 'chyron' to be precise.

Also known as the 'lower third', 'superbar', 'name strap', 'aston', or more prosaically, 'caption', the chyron is the text or graphic (eg the name/title of the person being interviewed or the tag-line of a news story) which you see on the bottom bit of your television screen. The word itself is derived from the name of a major US supplier of caption generators.

But I haven't told you the best bit yet - I encountered the word when I read a news story on Huffington Post titled 'Chyron of the Day - Baby found in Sandwich'. It concerned a news story about a baby that had been kidnapped by the father. Luckily, the child had been found safe and sound in a town called, drum roll please, Sandwich, USA.

'Mothers and headline writers alike celebrated', says the post, above a screen shot of a news story with the caption, 'Police have found missing 11-month old baby in Sandwich'! 

Isn't that a corker? It awoke my 9 year old soul and made me giggle. If you ever find a similarly 'punny' headline or chyron, do write in and tell me - I love 'em!

*pontificate also means to carry out the duties of a pontiff (ie high ranking cleric - eg pope) but somehow I don't think that is what the writer was saying either!

Thanks to Sakurako Kitsa for the photo above.

Comments

[tammy]

I cannot think of a 'punny' headline at the moment but will write you when I encounter one!

Very nice photo by Sakurako Kitsa, by the way. I liked the mischievious-childish-devilish sandwich face! (The eyebrows! The teeth!)

[mio]

I love the pic too! Thanks for visiting Tammy.

[graduate school essay]

Took me time to read all the comments, but I enjoyed the article.