Clarity Begins at Home to Weed Out Words that Mislead with a Double Meaning

New words and new usages liven up daily communication no end. You can get to the end of an article and realise you haven’t actually understood several or more of the references, or that words you are familiar with seem to have acquired different meanings. It certainly keeps you on your toes. You have to admire the creative efforts of those who need to attract attention, persuade us to buy or buy into the product or idea they are promoting.

But sometimes the technique backfires, and the usage becomes stale and annoying, or even worse, it’s ambiguous. We can overlook a lot in the cause of a bit of colour and pzazz, but when both clarity and freshness bite the dust, it’s surely time to re-evaluate and retire some techniques.

Drop

Right up at the top of the list is the harmless word ‘drop’. It has become something of a contronym, that is a word which has two opposite meanings. The word ‘sanction’, for example, can mean to allow or to oppose; the meaning is immediately established by the context. The same is true of slang terms like ‘bad’ or ‘sick’. But what about:

BBC drops plan to…
We are dropping the idea…
The board has dropped the proposal…

This usage suggests that a plan, an idea, a proposal or whatever is being abandoned, and you read on with bated breath hoping that your fave programme isn’t being ditched – phew! It’s okay, it means they’re announcing or revealing. Silly me!

Was that a teasing ambiguity, cleverly designed to keep you reading? Hmm. The other term for a contronym is a Janus word. This name comes from the Roman god Janus who is depicted with two faces, one looking forward and the other backwards, implying fluidity and possibilities, change and delightful uncertainty. It’s a lovely phrase, but the current usage of ‘drop’ doesn’t really deserve to benefit from its appeal.

Land

Other attempts to convey a sense of excitement are less ambiguous but equally annoying. We’re looking at you, ‘land’. Remember when goods arrived and when productions opened? Now they land:

The eyeshadow will land in shops tomorrow
The new version lands in the West End next week

There’s something a little desperate about this usage. It seems to be an attempt to convey breathless anticipation, the kind of excitement which is naturally due to a new cosmetic or event or household item, or whatever. And the word does have many connotations. You think of unwelcome things landing, such as bombs and missiles. Or there is the feeling of safety and relief when a plane lands.

Images flood your mind. The pilgrim fathers landing at Plymouth Rock. Parachutists landing safely. The Eagle Has Landed. A tube of make-up overcomes all odds and lands in a department store. A new comedy series travels through the technological ether to make a triumphant landing on our screens.

Core

Adding ‘core’ to the end of a word to denote a genre or particular aesthetic is a decades-old technique, and it works very well. When something is described as ‘hardcore’ you know what to expect; it’s a straightforward coinage which does a lot of work.

Would you believe that there are over 5,000 documented examples of words with ‘core’ attached? It’s an easy thing to do. Take your genre, or your demographic group, or your concept, slap ‘core’ on the end and you’ve created a cool new entity.

And who knows, it might seep into everyday usage, as has happened with ‘cottagecore’, for example, with its aesthetic of a pastoral idyll and idealised country way of life. A handy word, creating countless opportunities to promote a particular style of fashion, interior decoration, artefacts, eating and drinking, leisure activities…

But it’s overdone, and the usage begins to look tired. And it can have the opposite effect from the one intended, causing resentment in the reader or listener, who is faced with yet another ‘significant’ social and cultural phenomenon of which they are totally unaware.

Me, Myself, I

Yup, it’s pronoun time again, not in the grammarcore sense {ha!} but in the seemingly increasing practice of using certain pronouns to create a sense of authority and trustworthiness, or to exploit a fear of being left behind, out of the loop.

I’m a beauty editor, and here’s what I think about…
I’m a dietician, and here are three things…
I’m a dog-owner, and my view on…

There’s nothing misleading about this type of headline. It just seems rather a desperate way to establish the writer’s credentials, and it’s so easily parodied.
There probably is a game in existence where you match incongruous occupations and areas of expertise. It’s another example of overuse, causing a sense of weariness in the recipient.

A similar sense of weariness is created by the attempts to grab our attention by suggesting that we are hopelessly behind the times and not fit for social interactions unless we are familiar with what is being promoted or featured. It’s a crude technique and it’s sad to think it might be working, judging by its persistent use. Simple pronouns do the work:

Everyone is talking about…
Here’s the one item everyone wants…
Why we are all raving about…
Why we can’t get enough of…

There’s nothing new about this way of pushing buttons, but the current method seems somehow brazen and unsophisticated, as if the recipients are easy meat. Or perhaps it’s ironic?