Commentary On Invented Words

Sorry, I couldn't come up with a better title. Anyway, I'm really bored right now, so I decided to write about something I've been pondering recently. In this country, we have a tendency to use words the wrong way. Everybody knows this, of course, but we say certain things as if they actually sound right. There are two specific examples I have in mind. First of all, why do we add the suffix "-aholic" to certain words (workaholic, chocaholic, shopaholic, etc.)? It sounds good at first, but what people don't realize is that it makes no sense. The word "alcoholic" is just "alcohol" plus "-ic." That's it. If we wanted to do this the right way, we would say "workic," "chocolatic," and "shopic," but those would sound really stupid. I realize that the way we do it is just a play on the whole alcoholic thing, but we shouldn't add part of the word "alcohol" to every single addiction. The second thing that bothers me is adding the word "gate" to every scandal. Dubya supposedly lies, and it's called "Uraniumgate." I just saw Newsmax call the Arnold thing "Gropegate." Also, I'm from Pittsburgh, so I witnessed "Sausagegate" this summer with Randall Simon. Why do we do this? The original Watergate scandal was named that way because it happened at the Watergate hotel. It wasn't a scandal about water, it was a scandal at a hotel called Watergate. Despite this fact, we still feel the need to add a gate to every scandal that happens in this country. As long as I'm writing about misuse of words, I want to mention that the way we use the word "homophobia" is also wrong. "Homo" means the same, "phobia" means fear. Homophobia=fear of things that are alike. We should say "homosexualphobia," but that wouldn't fit on a standard picket sign, and "homosexualphobe" would take too long to yell at passing social conservatives. That's my language rant for today. By the way, just so I don't seem elitist, I'm guilty of two of these word invention techniques (I used the word "Rushgate" a couple days ago on SIT, and I videotaped myself playing a drum solo over the summer and called it "Drumaholic"). Once again, I'm out of material. I really think the entire world slowed down today. I'm not sure why, but nothing on the 'net has been very interesting. Before I start to ramble (again), I'm going to stop. Remember, sign the petition! The link is on the right under "Michael Moore." It's for the good of honest filmmakers everywhere. Trust me.