Word of the Week 9/30/18: Retcon

From Merriam-Webster:

Retcon is a shortened form of retroactive continuity, and refers to a literary device in which the form or content of a previously established narrative is changed. Retcons are often encountered in serial formats such as comic books or television series, where they serve as a means of allowing the work’s creators to create a parallel universe, reintroduce a character, or explore plot lines that would otherwise be in conflict with the work. Essentially, a retcon allows an author to have his or her cake and eat it too, as it enables the return of dead characters, the revision of unpopular elements of a work, and a general disregard for reality.

The term appears to have its roots in a 1973 book by E. Frank Tupper titled The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg: “Pannenberg’s conception of retroactive continuity ultimately means that history flows fundamentally from the future into the past.” Although Tupper’s book, which was based on his 1971 Ph.D. dissertation, undoubtedly did quite well, it is unlikely that retcon would have been so successfully integrated into our language without retroactive continuity being used by other writers.

This began in the early 1980s when the term gained some degree of currency among comic book fans. The abbreviated form, retcon, started appearing in Usenet newsgroups before the end of the decade. Retcon's noun and verb forms appeared almost simultaneously. By the turn of the 21st century retcon had moved beyond the province of the Internet, and began to surface in newspapers and books.

Word of the Week 9/23/18: Inchoate

From Wiktionary:

1. Recently started but not fully formed yet; just begun; only elementary or immature
2. Chaotic, disordered, confused; also, incoherent, rambling

From Thefreedictionary.com:

1. Imperfect; partial; unfinished; begun, but not completed; as in a contract not executed by all the parties
2. Referring to something which has begun but has not been completed, either an activity or some object which is incomplete. It may define a potential crime like a conspiracy which has been started but not perfected or finished, (buying the explosives, but not yet blowing up the bank safe), a right contingent on an event (receiving property if one outlives the grantor of the property), or a decision or idea which has been only partially considered, such as a contract which has not been formalized.

Word of the Week 9/16/18: Hirsute

From Dictionary.com:

1. hairy; shaggy.2. Botany, Zoology. covered with long, rather stiff hairs

From Wiktionary:

Considerably more formal than the everyday "hairy"- antonym: glabrous

From Vocabulary.com:

Pronounced “HER-suit”

ed. note: why the peak usage in 1980?

Word of the Week 9/9/18: Elision

From Literarydevices.net:

An elision is the removal of an unstressed syllable, consonants, or letters from a word or phrase, for the purpose of decreasing the number of letters or syllables when mixing words together. The missing letter is replaced by an apostrophe. Generally, the middle or end letter or syllable is eliminated, or two words are blended together, and an apostrophe is inserted. 

By merely looking at contraction and elision examples, one would think the two are the same. However, there is a slight difference between them. Contraction is a more general term referring to the combination of two words to form a shorter word. For instance, can’t is a contraction of “can” + “not,” which is a combination of two words. On the other hand, elision is a specific term. It is the omission of sounds, syllables, or phrases, and replacing them with an apostrophe. For instance, ne’er is an elided form of “never.” Similarly, gonna is an elision of the phrase “going to.” 

Usually used deliberately, elisions are often found in prose and poetry with the objective to continue a regular meter, or to create flow in iambic pentameter. Since a specific meter is required, elision is employed to achieve the set number of syllables necessary to create flow in a piece. 

Example from Christopher Marlowe's Dr Faustus:

“Settle thy studies, Faustus, and begin
To sound the depth of that thou wilt profess:
Having commenc’d, be a divine in show,
Sweet Analytics, ’tis thou hast ravish’d me!
Is, to dispute well, logic’s chiefest end?
Then read no more; thou hast attain’d that end:
Be a physician, Faustus; heap up gold,
Why, Faustus, hast thou not attain’d that end?
Whereby whole cities have escap’d the plague,
And thousand desperate maladies been cur’d?
The god thou serv’st is thine own appetite,
Wherein is fix’d the love of Belzebub:
To him I’ll build an altar and a church…”

Examples of elision (elided syllable underlined) from EnglishPronunciationRoadmap.com:

- every
- lovely
- general
- evening
- different
- several
- reasonable
- comfortable
- military
- natural
- history
- ordinary
- library
- secretary
- interesting
- vegetable
- literature
- temperature
- business

Word of the Week 09/02/18: Limerence

From Limerence and the Biochemical Roots of Love Addiction, by David Sack, MD:

Limerence, a term coined by psychologist Dorothy Tennov in her 1979 book Love and Limerence: The Experience of Being in Love, has been described as “an involuntary interpersonal state that involves an acute longing for emotional reciprocation, obsessive-compulsive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and emotional dependence on another person.”

Albert Wakin, an expert on limerence and a professor of psychology at Sacred Heart University, defines limerence as a combination of obsessive-compulsive disorder and addiction, a state of “compulsory longing for another person.”He estimates that five percent of the population struggles with limerence.

Early in a romantic relationship, it can be difficult to distinguish love from limerence. One begins to follow a calmer, more rewarding path that feels good to both partners, while the other intensifies and stops feeling good to one or both partners over time. Limerence is smothering and unsatisfying and cares little about the other person’s well-being. Securing the other person’s affection takes precedence over earning their respect, commitment, physical intimacy or even their love.