“Meow” means “woof” in cat. ~ George Carlin

I suddenly had a rather unexpected urge to learn Spanish the other day - sent for a CD course and book. The first has arrived and I've listened to the alphabet and how to pronounce it properly. I still await the book - I like a book, computer screen is good, but paper and print are essential - I'm an old-fashioned gal.

But, before I rush full tilt into my studies I realise that, as yet, I cannot fully understand the evolving English language - as she is spoken in this fair land. Yesterday I came across an article about "bracket wars" Brackets? Those are for putting up shelves. Is there a shortage, or are competing manufacturers getting over-stroppy? The piece made no sense to me at all, especially as, within a few paragraphs, I stumbled over another unknown term: "meta". I have always understood meta- as a prefix meaning beyond or above. It appears writers who feel they are being "hip" or "cool" now use meta to refer to something that is self-referential. Sigh. I searched for enlightenment, found this piece by Ben Zimmer from last May in the Boston Globe He begins:

You know what? I’d love to write a column about the word meta. I could explain how meta started off as a prefix meaning “above or beyond” (the metaphysical realm is beyond the physical one) or “at a higher level of abstraction” (metalanguage is language used to describe other language). Then I could talk about how meta broke free as a standalone adjective to mean “consciously self-referential” and has become a perfect meta-commentary on the consciously self-referential age we live in. Maybe I could even start the column with an introduction about wanting to write about the word meta............

I think it'll be less irritating for me to learn Spanish than to wind my head around what is happening to English.