CARTOGRAPHY (noun): the science or practice of drawing maps
SOURCE: Brainstorming session with Shawn and Susan to finalize name for Talk Process. Has to do with mapping, which elicited a conversation about cartography and the role of a cartographer.
USE IN A SENTENCE: The National Geographic Society has subsidized the adventures of many cartographers eager to make their mark on the world map.
EPIGRAM: (noun) a pithy saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever and amusing way; a short poem, especialy a satircal one, having a witty or ingenious ending.
SOURCE: The Sea-Wolf, a novel by Jack London “Brutality I had experienced, but it was the brutality of the intellect - the cutting sarcasm of Charley Furuseth, the cruel epigrams and occasional harsh witticisms of the fellows at the Bibelot, and the nasty remarks of some of the professors during my undergraduate days.”
USE IN A SENTENCE: Shawn was well known for his use of memorable epigrams in both his conversation and his copywriting.
METRONOME (noun): a device used by musicians that marks time at a selected rate by giving of a regular tick
SOURCE: Get Fuzzy comic strip in today’s issue of the Star News
USE IN A SENTENCE: My friend’s cat Socks is often transfixed by the motion of the metronome that sits atop her piano.
LOQUACIOUS (adjective) — talkative
SOURCE: My mom’s word-of-the-day from way back in 1979, when she first introduced this concept to the family dinner hour. The words were posted on a big sheet of paper taped to the dining room door and we discussed it at dinner. Don’t tell me the Sayce family doesn’t know how to have a good time!
USE IN A SENTENCE: My friends often accuse me of being loquacious when it comes to telling stories about my beloved dog Camden.
SNARK (noun) Webster’s defines snark as an imaginary animal; someone or something that is hard to track down. Film critic and author David Denby has a different definition. He describes it as an insult or bullying ridicule that is running rampant in today’s media world, especially on the Internet. As a matter of fact, he’s written an entire book about it, entitled Snark.
SOURCE: Susan Crispell, Talk Traffic Manager. Susan is far too polite to be snarky in public but has been known to utter a snark or two in the privacy of the Talk office!
USE IN SENTENCE: My twitters on the Golden Globes had an element of snark to them reminscent of Joan Rivers.
MEME (noun) — an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another through nongenetic means; imitation.
Online, a meme refers to a list of questions that someone poses to you which you answer, and then tag others to answer and pass on. Richard Dawkins coined the word “meme” in his book The Selfish Gene (1976) to describe how one might extend evolutionary principles to explain the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena.
SOURCE: I’ve seen this term used frequently in various blog postings I’ve been reading about social media.
USE IN A SENTENCE: My friend Ashley tagged me in a meme in Facebook entitled “16 Random Things” that details 16 random things about her life, likes, dislikes, family, etc.
INDOLENT (adjective) — wanting to avoid activity and exertion; lazy
SOURCE: Prayer of Confession at 1/11 service at Liberty Hill Presbyterian Church
“On this day when we recall the journey of the Wise Men, we confess that too often we have been lazy or indolent in our own spiritual quest. . .”
USE IN A SENTENCE: Sometimes I feel like an indolent sloth when faced with a task I don’t want to do.
PRESCIENT (adjective) — having or showing knowledge of something before they take place
SOURCE: The Harte of Marketing blog article entitled “25 Signs You’ve Got a Strong Social Marketing Consultant or Agency,” posted on January 5, 2009.
“Since it’s a prescient topic, we’d like to offer a more serious, positive post to help marketers make a good choice in consultants.
USE IN A SENTENCE: Camden’s incessant, high-pitched barking was a prescient warning that strangers were lurking outside our front door.
CONFLATE (verb): combine two or more texts or ideas into one; derivatives — conflated (adjective) and conflation (noun)
SOURCE: Being Peter Kim blog. Peter Kim is a social computing guru out of Austin, TX.
“Stowe Boyd says that I’ve gotten into a conflated muddle with thinking on why social media isn’t socialism.”
USE IN A SENTENCE: The urban crisis conflates a number of different social and economic issues.
LACUNA (noun) A gap or missing part, as in a manuscript, series or logical argument; hiatus.
SOURCE: A novel entitled 2666, given to me for Christmas by my brother John. The word appeared in the first paragraph: “The young Pelletier didn’t realize at the time that the novel was part of a trilogy. . . , but this ignorance or lapse or bibliographical lacuna, attributable only to his extreme youth, did nothing to diminish the wonder and admiration that the novel stirred in him.
USE IN A SENTENCE: The newly discovered Civil War document filled an important lacuna in the museum’s archives.
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