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.
