The technical literature is full of jargon. It makes people feel smart, special even. The phrase “email for pics” is an example of a specific jargon used by those engaged in online sales. Today, I had the good fortune to see two worlds meet, as an article about revamping one’s website had to introduce the definition of the word “bling”.
Elinor Mills at CNet wrote an article titled “Bring some ‘bling’ to your Web site”, in which some techniques were discussed for making sales-oriented websites more search engine and consumer friendly. Just in case the audience didn’t know what “bling” meant, a suitable definition was provided:
Bling bling is a hip-hop slang term that refers to flashiness or luxury goods.
Priceless. Some words and phrases are simply not meant to be defined in print.
I don’t recall which station it was (it one of the big 3) nor the context, but I was watching the evening news one day when I nearly blew my drink all over the room in response to the reporter rather calmly saying something to the effect of “blah blah blah bling bling blah blah blah”. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of a “respectable reporter” on the evening news (it may have been the national news… not sure) casually tossing around the term “bling bling”. I nearly gave myself a hernia in my attempt to keep from spraying soft-drink everywhere.
Comment by Adam — August 11, 2005 @ 2:05 am