I actually hesitated putting the word "aesthetic" in the headline because I could imagine posts like Mark's, but I really believe it's the most descriptive word for the phenomena — those goofy phone cases aren't just trendy or stylish, they're specifically aesthetic. Not everyone finds them cool, but for their target audience, they are so cool — trendy on its own terms, if not in the mainstream. I think that's a genuinely new word and we're lucky to have it!
Oh my god, a Fritinancy / Oppenheimer crossover episode! (Fritinheimer!) Can't wait for you to go on Eminent Americans :')
Curiously, I remember this exact debate playing out on 2013 Tumblr, which I think mainstreamed the most recent sense of the word, although we rendered the word as ~ a e s t h e t i c ~. (Pretend this is italicized.) At the time it struck me as a pretentious way to talk about having a coherent style, and it still kind of does, tbqh!
I can understand how those who don’t study and work in language regularly might not grasp how language evolves, so I’m a bit surprised that MO tagged you “to pass judgment, presumably in his favor.” I’m not surprised at all that he tagged you to pass judgment; more puzzled about the “presumably in his favor,” for I would think he’d “be in the know” re: the essence of your play-by-play analysis.
Also, after reading the post, I could not help but think – in regard to the ever-changing nature of language – of E. E. Cummings’ poem, “old age sticks.” It begins, “old age sticks / up Keep / off / signs)& / youth yanks them down.”
A few comments that I haven't got the time or energy to follow up today:
(1) I read the article quickly and I don't think that I can differentiate all the meanings. It's a good thing there is no test.
(2) Are people peeving about the meanings, the number of meanings, or both?
(3) I thought that American spelling preference was to prefer plain 'e' instead of 'ae' (notably in 'anesthetic', 'anesthesia'), so why not for 'aesthetic'?
(4) Here in Australia, I've also heard or seen 'versed', 'versing', etc, especially from younger people. In addition, I've heard 'vee', as in 'Melbourne vee Sydney'.
2) *One* person was peeving about *one* new meaning.
3) I occasionally see “esthetic" here in the U.S., but “aesthetic” is preferred for some reason. Otherwise we generally simplify spellings like “pediatric" and “gynecology.”
4) In the U.S. we tend to use the “v” abbreviation mostly for court cases, perhaps most famously Roe v. Wade (v pronounced “vee”).
Re: Footnote the first . . . "Jumped into the leave" is possibly a typoed version of "Jumped into the lead". (Also, if "typo" is a verb, what's the past tense? That spelling I used looks sus (as the kids say).)
Re: Footnote the fifth: I support the "never" option.
That's odd. I thought perhaps I hadn't posted my first comment, since it appeared to still be open, so I added to it (after failing to find an edit button). Sorry for the repetition!
Re: Footnote the first . . . "Jumped into the leave" is possibly a typoed version of "Jumped into the lead". (Also, if "typo" is a verb, what's the past tense? That spelling I used looks sus (as the kids say).)
As an aside, it's tedious when people talk about usage "battles" that they're "losing".
I have dusted off my umbrage to let all know that my personal aesthetic feels "highfalutin" should be spelled with an apostrophe.
Both because I have great affection for the grammatical symbol and (at least mentally) swallowing a final "g" makes me laugh.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/highfalutin <-- preferred spelling, no apostrophe
Lalalala.... can't hear you!
It's my aesthetic, lady!
#misspellcore
Hah!
as the person who started this conflict, thank you for such a thorough gloss of ”aesthetic.” I wrote about it a few months ago for The Cut and came to a less well-researched but similar conclusion: https://www.thecut.com/article/in-defense-of-calling-everything-an-aesthetic.html
I actually hesitated putting the word "aesthetic" in the headline because I could imagine posts like Mark's, but I really believe it's the most descriptive word for the phenomena — those goofy phone cases aren't just trendy or stylish, they're specifically aesthetic. Not everyone finds them cool, but for their target audience, they are so cool — trendy on its own terms, if not in the mainstream. I think that's a genuinely new word and we're lucky to have it!
Thanks, Erin!
Oh my god, a Fritinancy / Oppenheimer crossover episode! (Fritinheimer!) Can't wait for you to go on Eminent Americans :')
Curiously, I remember this exact debate playing out on 2013 Tumblr, which I think mainstreamed the most recent sense of the word, although we rendered the word as ~ a e s t h e t i c ~. (Pretend this is italicized.) At the time it struck me as a pretentious way to talk about having a coherent style, and it still kind of does, tbqh!
Thank you for another defense against linguistic prescriptivism (my favorite Hogwarts class) 🙏
Nancy, I bought the Aesthetics t-shirt at SF MoMA. It represents my subtribe.
I can understand how those who don’t study and work in language regularly might not grasp how language evolves, so I’m a bit surprised that MO tagged you “to pass judgment, presumably in his favor.” I’m not surprised at all that he tagged you to pass judgment; more puzzled about the “presumably in his favor,” for I would think he’d “be in the know” re: the essence of your play-by-play analysis.
Also, after reading the post, I could not help but think – in regard to the ever-changing nature of language – of E. E. Cummings’ poem, “old age sticks.” It begins, “old age sticks / up Keep / off / signs)& / youth yanks them down.”
Very interesting (again)!
A few comments that I haven't got the time or energy to follow up today:
(1) I read the article quickly and I don't think that I can differentiate all the meanings. It's a good thing there is no test.
(2) Are people peeving about the meanings, the number of meanings, or both?
(3) I thought that American spelling preference was to prefer plain 'e' instead of 'ae' (notably in 'anesthetic', 'anesthesia'), so why not for 'aesthetic'?
(4) Here in Australia, I've also heard or seen 'versed', 'versing', etc, especially from younger people. In addition, I've heard 'vee', as in 'Melbourne vee Sydney'.
1) I can create a test for you!
2) *One* person was peeving about *one* new meaning.
3) I occasionally see “esthetic" here in the U.S., but “aesthetic” is preferred for some reason. Otherwise we generally simplify spellings like “pediatric" and “gynecology.”
4) In the U.S. we tend to use the “v” abbreviation mostly for court cases, perhaps most famously Roe v. Wade (v pronounced “vee”).
Is the antonym "anesthetic?"
Re: Footnote the first . . . "Jumped into the leave" is possibly a typoed version of "Jumped into the lead". (Also, if "typo" is a verb, what's the past tense? That spelling I used looks sus (as the kids say).)
Re: Footnote the fifth: I support the "never" option.
Typoid?
That's odd. I thought perhaps I hadn't posted my first comment, since it appeared to still be open, so I added to it (after failing to find an edit button). Sorry for the repetition!
Re: Footnote the first . . . "Jumped into the leave" is possibly a typoed version of "Jumped into the lead". (Also, if "typo" is a verb, what's the past tense? That spelling I used looks sus (as the kids say).)
Yes that's what I sus-pected.