hungry for words
Friday, January 13th, 2006I don’t actually sit down and read dictionaries but when I look up a word, I am often intrigued by other words that catch my eyes. There I am, paging through the mammoth-sized Merriam-Webster’s, looking for ‘object-oriented programming’, and ‘masher’ and ‘mash note’ pull me aside. A mash note is a term used circa 1890 referring to a sentimental note or letter expressing affection for the recipient. Quite the opposite of a ‘Dear John’ letter. Is there such a thing as a ‘Dear Jane’ letter, I wonder? And what might the politics of language have to do with this entry?
Oh, and a masher is a man who makes passes at women - as well as an object that mashes potatoes!
Words that are illustrated are very good at distracting me from my initial intention. Continuing on towards the Os, I see an illustration of a globe with points out in space above and below the globe. This is an illustration accompanying the definition for nadir. Nadir. The point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer. Also, the lowest point. Cool word. Now, can I use it in a sentence? Hmmmm…
During my college years, my body was at a physical nadir due to my let’s-burn-the-candle-at-both-ends philosophy.
Ok. back to finding object-oriented programming. OOP. computer programming in which programming objects are used to form additional objects and are arranged into hierarchies and in which a single object member may be used in several different but related ways.
Mac Addict magazine used to have a regular column called “The Web Way and the Old Way” or something like that. The author would perform a couple of different activities - the web way and the old way and compare the methods, which was faster, which was more successful. In that tradition, I have just presented you with the old way of looking up a word, in this case, a tech word. Now, here’s the web way.
Point your browser to Webopedia, type in the the term and get this result. A lot faster. On the other hand, I didn’t learn about masher, mash note or nadir.
Which is better? depends.
