I just like to point out that umami is a terrible word to import into English. Why? Because we already have a word for savory. It’s savory. Worse, umami doesn’t completely just mean savory. It also means meaty or deliciousness. In English, savory ≠ meaty, and deliciousness is subjective. The word just doesn’t translate cleanly. So when anybody uses umami to describe savory food, all they’re really doing is sounding like an imprecise, pretentious jackass.
A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
silivren penna míriel
o mendel aglar elenath!
Na-chaered palan-díriel
o galadhremmin ennorath,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
nef aear, sí nef aearon!
This text is a poem in Sindarin, one of the languages created by J.R.R. Tolkien for his Middle-earth legendarium. It is a hymn to Varda (Elbereth), a revered figure among the Elves. Here’s a translation and analysis:
Translation:
A Elbereth Gilthoniel, (Oh Elbereth Star-kindler,)
silivren penna míriel (white-glittering, slanting down sparkling like jewels)
o menel aglar elenath! (from heaven the glory of the star-host!)
Na-chaered palan-díriel (To-remote distance far-having gazed)
o galadhremmin ennorath, (from tree-woven Middle-earth,)
Fanuilos, le linnathon (Fanuilos [Ever-white], to thee I will chant)
nef aear, sí nef aearon! (on this side of the ocean, here on this side of the Great Ocean!)
Analysis:
Elbereth Gilthoniel: Elbereth is another name for Varda, the Queen of the Stars, one of the Valar. Gilthoniel means "Star-kindler."
silivren penna míriel: Describes the shining and glittering quality of the stars.
o menel aglar elenath: Refers to the glory of the star-host (elenath) in the heavens (menel).
Na-chaered palan-díriel: Indicates gazing into the remote distance.
o galadhremmin ennorath: Mentions Middle-earth (Ennorath) being tree-woven.
Fanuilos, le linnathon: Pledges to sing to Fanuilos (another name for Elbereth) forever.
nef aear, sí nef aearon: A vow made on this side of the ocean (referring to the Great Ocean that separates Middle-earth from the Undying Lands).
The poem reflects the deep reverence and love the Elves have for Elbereth, highlighting her connection to the stars and the distant heavens.
“refrigerate” at least has sensible etymological roots in its constituent components.
The problem with brain rot lingo is that it isn’t constructed from precedent but a decay therefrom, corrupted by niche “meta” references that are little more than inside jokes that escaped their in-group, divorced of the context that brought them about.
…
Then again, though, the most popular word that humans speak all over the world is “OK”, which is itself a memetic corruption of a fad, wherein people were saying “All Correct” with a deliberately exaggerated fake British accent: “Oll Korrect” (which became abbreviated).
And brain rot does have the fact that it’s very funny going for it. It sounds silly which makes it fun to say and it pisses people off which makes it even funnier, because getting mad about it is a drastic overreaction. So I don’t think it’ll even really BECOME an actual serious problem, because the moment it hits mainstream and corporations start publishing commercials about “skibidi Ohio GYATT” it’s going to implode like “it’s morbin time” burned Sony.
Otherwise, constructing new words out of extant etymological particles is DELIGHTFULLY useful.
In Minecraft, I built an Enfenestrator:
A window through which zombies throw themselves into a catchment chamber for culling and (when zombified villagers are isolated) curing.
“Divorced from the context that brought them about” Ahh, so you’re complaining about all the Germanic words in English, or the Latin words? The whole point of their diatribe is that the “brain rot” words you hate are little different from most words. It’s just that for some words the “in group” is Latin speakers, and for some words it’s some group nerding out about their own topic that spread their word to the rest of us… actually, I’m still talking about Latin speakers.
While I get the point they’re making, I have a counterargument:
Ngqnund urnidng bptgx durunbde druxng.
What, you didn’t understand that? Are you dissing be just because you didn’t bother to learn new words?
Show me two people who can speak to each other like that, and sure. And if they want to say I’m behind the times because I didn’t learn their lingo, then that’s fine and valid, too. There are two of them, what do I care their opinion on my linguistic ability?
As more people start to use these words, though, not being able to understand them does me harm. And at that point, the natural conclusion will be that I learn and, in some cases, adopt the new lingo. It’s the only real way it CAN go - what incentive do they have to not use their lingo? Others understand them fine.
One thing I learned: fuck dictionaries. Be creative. Invent words if you need them. As long as it’s understandable, that’s all fine.
