Daniella's words of the week

The first word I decided to talk about is the word “queer”. I chose this word because of its history and the change of meaning it carries. I started paying attention to it mainly after I arrived in Madison and met some people that work in the LGBT Campus Center and identify themselves as queer. I have talked to some of them about the meaning of the word for them and it is very different from what we find in many dictionaries.

QUEER

According to the dictionary Merriam Webster, for instance, some of the meanings given for the word are:      

•  worthless
• questionable, suspicious
• eccentric
• differing in some odd way from what is usual or normal
• unconventional
• often disparaging: homosexual and sometimes offensive: gay

After providing the definition, the dictionary provided an observation about the late usage of the word “queer”. The term has had a pejorative meaning through most of the 20^th century, but some LGBT groups began to reappropriate the word to establish a political identity and a community. It also denotes an opposition to binary thinking. It is interesting to read about semantic shifts and linguistic appropriations like this in which some people that would be offended by the word are actually taken it as a positive and representative of who they are. In addition to that, some academic disciplines also use the term such as queer theory and queer studies. Interestingly, I do not believe we have a translation for “queer” in Portuguese other than its offensive meanings. The word in its new meaning is used in English. (Source: Merriam Webster and Wikipedia)

The second word I chose is the word “awkward”. Although I usually have trouble to spell this word correctly, I really like it, mainly how it sounds. I just think the word itself, its sound and spelling, matches its meaning somehow.

AWKWARD

• lacking skill 
• lacking grace or ease in movement: an awkward gesture
• lacking manners
• not well planned or designed for easy or effective use: an awkward instrument; an awkward method.
• requiring caution; somewhat hazardous: an awkward turn in the road. (Source: dictionary.com)

Something I think is funny is that the awkward moments have a “mascot” called awkward turtle. It is a hand gesture.

“During an awkward moment, this hand gesture is used to mark the situation as awkward, and, depending on the situation, makes it more awkward or clears the air. The awkward turtle is made by putting one hand on top of the other with the thumbs sticking outward and rotating forward. The speed of the rotating thumbs depends on the degree of awkwardness.” (Source: Urban dictionary) 

Finally, the last word chosen was “doppelganger”. I saw it for the first time when watching an episode of the TV show “How I met you mother” and I actually thought the word was invented by the show maybe because it does not sound or look like English words. The funny thing about that is that I avoided using the word with other people because I thought they would understand it only if they had watched the show. It took me a while to find out that it is a “real” word.

DOPPELGANGER

• a ghostly counterpart of a living person
• double
• alter ego
• a person who has the same name as another (Source: Merriam Webster)

1830, from German Doppelgänger, literally "double-goer", originally with a ghostly sense. (Source: Online Etymology Dictionary)