What did you read or watch that surprised, delighted or disappointed you? Why?
This week, I was delighted to read the article “Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate.” I find it interesting to think about how as time goes on, languages change, and people resist those changes. I can imagine that it’s hard for “new” words to make the leap from a smaller communities into the broader cultural lexicon. While I was reading the article, I found myself staying on the side of the underdog, wanting these new variations of old words to be deemed as appropriate for everyday use in both casual and business contexts. However, I was at a loss when, in the article, I read a defense of the word “expresso.”
As my family’s personal coffee-snob, I’ve been known time and time again to correct my parents and siblings when they say “expresso” instead of “espresso.” My family, who concern themselves with the coffee vs. tea debate with the ferocity others reserve for a cats vs. dogs discussion, are used to my critiques of their pronunciations, but after reading what Merriam-Webster had to say, I might be eating my words. It would be hypocritical of me to support the use of the other words in the article, such as “commentate” or “conversate,” and not concede “expresso” to my family. After reading the Merriam-Webster article “Is it ‘espresso’ or ‘expresso’? Yes,” where I learned that the word espresso has similar roots as the word “express,” I think it’s only fair that us coffee-snobs ease up on our less pretentious friends and family and let them have their less accepted pronunciation.
How did the material influence your approach to graded work in the course? Explain.
I found the material on language basics to be interesting. I come from a computer science background, so I haven’t learned a lot about language variation. Further, I’ve never really had to write with a different voice, so in order to meet objective 2, “manipulating language to alter style, voice and tone,” I’ll have to keep these language basics in mind. So far in the technical communication program, I’ve learned a lot about writing for a particular audience, but this new information gives additional context that might help me alter my writing style to enhance reader comprehension, focus, and delight. Although it’s a lot of new vocabulary, I’m excited to learn more about this topic in the coming weeks.
What was most meaningful for your own career goals? Why? (If you cannot easily address your career goals, answer based on your course goals.)
As an aspiring technical writer, writing toward an audience sometimes feels like half of the work. Every time I write, I’m constantly trying to decide whether my writing is geared toward the correct audience. When it comes to creative writing or blogging, sometimes the point of writing is to showcase the author’s talents. However, in a technical, business context, it’s important that the author writes purely for the audience–meaning that the author’s talents are almost invisible, largely hidden behind the work. Like I mentioned in the previous section, learning how language basics can improve a reader’s experience might help to improve my technical writing for different audiences. Thinking about this subject reminded me of a quote from singer-songwriter Labi Siffre, where he talks about wanting his music to be judged separate from his identity, stating: “the audience should not know who the artist is, but just hear the music completely devoid of anything and evaluate the music on its merits.” Whether in art or in technical writing, centering the audience’s experience in reaction to your work can play a large role in the success of the piece, even if it means being largely invisible while delivering information.