[Reader-list] Repl:To concise lexicon by riveting riverines of cant clusters&glossary galaxies

[Dr. Reyhan Chaudhuri]

Dear lexicon wallahs,
This is very interesting that words or alphabet concepts  do not have to be 
only compiled or collected for dictionaries with cryptic meanings.They can 
also be new constellations of what people utter and purposely stutter (or 
fumble with). Yes,I often find people having the crucial words on the tips 
of their tongue but clutch on to it to say their takiya -kalam:"You know."
Another example: when I was a student and that jumma chumma song of Sridevi 
was a great hit,colleagues would trail off juicy gossip with unsaid words 
and a murmur of "you know jumma"....I don't know if this was to vex the 
listener/make his or her brains work overtime/or to sound fashionable or 
With it/Or merely just a force of habit. However this would be only as long 
as the next hit film or bestseller arrived into town.Then there was a 
scrambling for the new trendy phrases.
Even the word 'trendy' actually seems to change garbs all the time.In my 
schooldays one used(the rather clumsy expression) :"Hep".Until we had
messages from English Videshis,that it was "Hip".Then college days  the same 
word began to be said as:"Mod".Now I hear young lissome creatures in my 
class(South Delhi Polytechnic for Women)cry out,"Ma'am ,this is cool!"My 
junior colleagues at the same time curtly pronounce,"No,Ma'am
it is passe." While my children's grandparents on hearing the same 
thing(evoke colonial memories of bowler hats and sun bonnets,very sensible 
gear actually...) "I say,You mean all that is old hat?"
All this seems to culminate into the fact that not only new words may emerge 
  with time but even within a community people unconsciously verbalise a 
variant vocabulary creating subtle codes for sequestered clubs.
Anthropologists and Desmond Morris's of India(Human behaviour scientists) 
ofcourse would also tell us that familiar events or experiences shared in a 
family create scotch phrases or favourite funnies,frequently expressed and 
often incomprehensible to a visitor.
Yes,in tentative conclusion this could emerge into quite a curious  
activity,trailing these carousing comets and classifying them into 
characteristic constellations.
Yrs.Sincerely,
R.Chaudhuri.


>From: Raqs Media Collective <raqs at giasdl01.vsnl.net.in>
>To: reader-list at sarai.net
>Subject: [Reader-list] Re: A Concise Lexicon of/ for the Digital Commons
>Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 17:24:42 +0530
>
>
>Dear Readers,
>
>The earlier posting of the concise lexicon is the beginning of a
>'dictionary', a lexical resource on the commons, that could grow with
>what other people have to say. We look forward to new words and meanings
>forming new constellations.
>
>best
>raqs


_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp