words

Fandango’s Provocative Question #204

Fandango32 Comments
FPQ

Welcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration.

By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.

What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.

I recently read an article that the publisher of the late author Roald Dahl’s children’s books is working with a group called Inclusive Minds, a consortium of “sensitivity readers,” whose objective is to make children’s books “more inclusive.”

Dahl’s books, including “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “James and the Giant Peach,” and “Matilda,” are some of the best known and widely read children’s books. Yes, they have been characterized as dark, irreverent, and edgy. Yet they have been beloved by generations of children because of their occasionally prickly, mean-spirited nature, not in spite of it.

Dahl’s publisher, Puffin Books U.K., is now rewriting his language to remove hundreds of possibly “damaging” words. To-date, the publisher has changed parts of at least 10 of Dahl’s books. Gone are references to people being “fat,” “ugly,” “bald,” and “crazy.” Scary tractors are no longer “black.” Boys and girls are referred to as the more gender-neutral “children.”

Facing a firestorm of accusations of “censorship,” Puffin announced that, alongside the sanitized versions of 17 Dahl’s books, it will also publish unaltered “classic” versions.

And that brings me to today’s provocative question.

How do you feel about book publishers altering the language in classic books to “sanitize” them by eliminating or changing words, phrases, and sentiments that some readers might find upsetting? Is it wrong to rewrite the words of a published author, living or dead, without the author’s permission?

If you choose to participate, you may respond with a comment or write your own post in response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments. But remember to check to confirm that your pingback or your link shows up in the comments.

Fibbing Friday — Handy Dandy Definitions

Fandango11 Comments

Di (aka Pensitivity101) hosts Fibbing Friday, a silly little exercise where we are to write a post with our answers to the ten questions below. But as the title suggests, truth is not an option. The idea is to fib a little, a lot, tell whoppers, be inventive, silly, or even outrageous, in our responses. For this week’s Fibbing Friday, Di wants to know what these words mean.

1. Silicone — an ice cream cone made from edible Silly Putty.
2. Fluff — the little threads and stuff you pull out of your bellybutton.
3. Loofah — a type of head covering worn by tribe elders in certain tribes at some islands in the South Pacific.
4. Caddy — a mean, nasty, hurtful person who speaks ill of others.
5. Pedantic — a pedal assist setting on an electric bicycle.
6. Tangent — a sun worshiping man who has a deep, bronze, year round tan.
7. Muffler — a gag tied around someone’s mouth to keep them from making any sounds.
8. Calamity — a type of mollusk found in the cold waters around Alaska that is served as a delicacy at finer restaurants around the world. If not properly prepared, however, they can be poisonous and eating them would be calamitous.
9. Archive — a beehive in the shape of an arc that is unique to a breed of bees known as the Noah bee.
10. Fortify — the name for the number halfway between 40 and 50 (i.e., 45).

Fibbing Friday — What’s in a Word?

Fandango14 Comments

Di (aka Pensitivity101) hosts Fibbing Friday, a silly little exercise where we are to write a post with our answers to the ten questions below. But as the title suggests, truth is not an option. The idea is to fib a little, a lot, tell whoppers, be inventive, silly, or even outrageous, in our responses. For this week’s Fibbing Friday, Di wants to know what these words mean…

1. Census — it’s the name for a teacher, like sensei in martial arts, expect one who specializes in counting things, as in, “Census, please teach me to count my chickens before they hatch.”
2. Probate — a debate between two professional politicians, as in, “Did you watch the probate on TV last night?”
3. Bayou — an expression someone from the southern United States says when saying goodbye to a close friend just before or after hugging them, as in, “Hey girl, come give me a hug before y’all runoff. Bayou.”
4. Crackerjack — a nickname for a well-dressed man, as in, “Get a load of the threads on that crackerjack over there.”
5. Chirrup — a word used to convey a wish for things to get better for someone who is down and out, as in, “Hey, Pete, chirrup, it coulda been worse.”
6. Fermium — a marketing term used to describe the firmness level of premium mattresses, as in “Our luxury mattresses have the highest level of fermium on the market.”
7. Surcingle — the incision scar remaining after a surgical procedure and removal of the stitches, as in, “Oh my God, look at the size of your surcingle.”
8. Withe — the pronunciation of the word “wife” by someone with a lisp, as in, “I now pronounth you huthband and withe.”
9. Gainsay — a profit in a crypto coin transaction, as in “Melvin had quite the gainsay when he sold off his Bitcoins.”
10. Titular — a very well endowed woman, as in, “Please, Robert, stop gawking at that titular woman over there.”

Choice of Words

Fandango11 Comments

Memo to: Advertising Copywriters
Memo From: Head of Advertising
Subject: New Copywriting Mandate

As a result of my scrutiny of some recent print advertisement copy, I have noticed on a number of occasions that our copy contains words that would require a reliance on either a dictionary or a thesaurus in order to understand the meaning of the choice of words.

For example, in one recent advertisement for a novelty shop we represent, I saw the word “esculent” for one of their products. When our client read the ad, he contacted me with a concern that that choice of words might not achieve the outcome he was hoping for. He suggested that his prospective customers would not know what “esculent panties” are, thus retarding the sales potential for that particular product. He went on to suggest that “edible” would have been a better word choice.

He, of course, is 100% correct. Henceforth, you shall cease and desist using uncommon or obscure words in your advertising copy. You should follow the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) methodology. Our role in copywriting is to persuade the customer to buy a product or service, not to impress them with your sesquipedalian loquaciousness.

Written for these daily prompts: Word of the Day Challenge (mandate), Your Daily Word Prompt (scrutiny), The Daily Spur (reliance), Fandango’s One Word Challenge (advertisement), Ragtag Daily Prompt (esculent), and My Vivid Blog (outcome).

Fibbing Friday — New Definitions

Fandango12 Comments

Di (aka Pensitivity101) and Melanie (Sparks From a Combustible Mind) alternate as hosts for Fibbing Friday, a silly little exercise where we are to write a post with our answers to the ten questions below. But as the title suggests, truth is not an option. The idea is to fib a little, a lot, tell whoppers, be inventive, silly, or even outrageous, in our responses. This week Di is back and she gives us some words to define.

1. What is a broom? A broom is the short term used in classified ads for “bedrooms,” as in, For rent: 3 broom, 2 bath apartment.

2. What is a doughnut? One of two testicles belonging to the Pillsbury Doughboy.

3. What is a penny farthing? It’s a competition to see who can take a penny and skim it across the surface of a lake the farthest.

4. What is a blanket? It’s another name for a blank check.

5. What is a socket? A small sock.

6. What is tapestry? It’s when you are running in a relay race and try to tap the next runner in order to pass him or her the baton.

7. What is e-mail? The opposite gender of a fe-mail.

8. What is a shower? It’s a sweaty feeling someone gets when they attempt to quickly climb up the steps of a tall and narrow structure.

9. What is a sandbag? It’s a woman’s handbag, but with a handle in the shape of the letter S, enabling it to be hooked onto the belt, thus offering a hands-free handbag experience.

10. What is chocolate? Flavored, edible chalk.