[ExI] ufos and gentle things was: RE: Optical illusion tricks you into seeing different colors

Mike Dougherty msd001 at gmail.com
Fri May 21 16:47:58 UTC 2021


On Fri, May 21, 2021, 11:39 AM <spike at rainier66.com> wrote:

> Everything Brent has been thinking about for at least a coupla decades
> makes perfect sense in this context: he already knew we don’t have existing
> words for some concepts, so he invented them.  This is Brentish NewSpeak.
> Well OK, fair game.  How the heck else can you describe a difficult new
> concept other than coining terms for it?
>
You know... after suggesting 'eff the ineffable' is a source of confusion
and frustration (it is for me) i realized it absolutely is "on brand" for
Brentish NewSpeak.  I also felt like a hypocrite using Heinlein's made up
word 'grok' and not Brent's made up word 'eff'... still, I'd be (and have
been) more likely to say 'eff this' in the common colloquial usage/context
of eff.  So perhaps that expression still encourages the smartass to remain
unconvinced.

> If you have never read Orwell’s classic, do read the sections on NewSpeak,
> and see how such a concept can go wrong.  Then figure out how such a
> concept can go right.  If you are in that category, please why the heck
> haven’t you read Orwell’s classic?  Unacceptable!  Go the heck to the
> library, note the date which it was written, check it out and read it!
> That man was the prophet among us.  He saw it all.
>
We have jargon that becomes both the good and bad... saves time for those
of the in-group, but is a barrier to entry for those in the out-group.

I work in medical terms and programmer terms; sometimes those two groups
have serious problems getting past their respective jargon to understand
each other.  I've coined the phrase "words are hard" to acknowledge the
problem.  It amuses me how often it gets used.
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