"linguistics" news and stories

A gastronome is someone with a refined palate, someone who appreciates good food and seeks out the best. The word has previously been applied primarily to men, but in and of itself it is not really a gender-specific term. Due to this lack of specificity, it was really only a matter of time before the word was adapted to describe some of the very specific groups of people that it encompasses.

A new one, which may just have been invented by the writers of the NYT's Style magazine, is "gastronomista." It is so new that a Google search turns up nothing and it is so specific that only a handful of people fall under its umbrella. It means, apparently, means "a savvy woman who turns blogging about what she ate last night into a mini-industry" and sounds vaguely insulting in the way it is phrased, since it doesn't even include any references to the quality of the food. And what, precisely, constitutes a mini industry? The term probably will not be catching on soon, if ever, but it is still interesting to note that food blogging is inspiring new terminology beyond the very unfortunate blend "flogger" that a few people still continue to use.

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I noticed a lot of comments about the name of the potential Ben & Jerry's flavor "Apricotabra." Whether or not the flavor - vanilla with apricot preserves - sounded appealing, most people didn't seem to like the name. I, too, found it awkward to think about, let alone to say aloud. The reason is that they word is a play on "abracadabra" that does not work for all English speakers because there are two entirely different ways to pronounce the name of the small stone fruit: ah-pricot and ape-ricot (I'd put the significantly more accurate phonetic transcription for any linguists out there, but my IPA fonts would probably not be visible on your screens via the Slashfood interface anyway).

If you take the ape-ricot pronunciation, they play on words that is supposed to be there just doesn't quite work. Doubtless, this would not be a selling point for Ben & Jerry's, who probably want people to be able to speak the names of their flavors aloud without stumbling over poor constructions. It may taste great, but no one will ever know if they're disinclined to buy it in the first place.

I have a layperson's interest in all things linguistics. One grad level linguistics class under my belt and I like to pretend I am on par with Noam Chomsky. (Not really.) But I am fascinated with all aspects of language from accents to regional dialects. I've noticed in my travels that some people in the United States "fix" dinner and some people "make" dinner. (Or, if you are my mom, you "cook" dinner.) I've noticed that the "fixers" are generally from the Midwest or South, and the "makers" are from the coasts.

I "make" dinner.  My friend "fixes" it.  "Fix" has always sounded strange to me, as if the meal is broken and needs careful attention with special tools and gadgets. How about you? Are you a "maker" or a "fixer"? Or do you simply "order out"?