Jane Stephens: rewinding the dictionary

The tempo of change is perhaps lightning-like, however it leaves a breadcrumb path to the previous.

Just lately, my UniSC workforce and I have been confronted with having to call an overhauled journalism course that included reporting and enhancing for TV information, but additionally audio-visual information for socials and on-line.

However video now not exists and we don’t use movie anymore. Nonetheless, these phrases persist. In actual fact, whereas time and terminology transfer on the pace of bytes, it’s outstanding what number of outdated phrases linger.

Maybe it’s unsurprising, given we’re cocooned within the digital age, however many of those outdated phrases come from media – whether or not that be information or leisure.

Recent info, information and even gossip continues to be stated by some to be ‘scorching off the presses’. We nonetheless speak about taping one thing as an alternative of recording, regardless that there isn’t any bodily tape concerned anymore. Visible recordings are known as footage, which as soon as referred to the variety of toes of movie used however now means what number of digital minutes.

Rewinding, as a verb basically, can be useless. With out reels of tape, there may be nothing to wind again: we simply return.

Digital natives – the era that has not identified something apart from units and multimedia know-how – should marvel what bizarre world went earlier than them.

There may be extra: when an individual talks repeatedly about one thing, we’d say they ‘sound like a damaged document’. However these black discs now exist solely in hipster circles and museums.

One other document reference persists within the occasional point out of a doable different in a debate as ‘on the flipside’.

Typing is simply appropriate when your digits are on a keyboard, not on a cell machine, when it’s texting.

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There are various different phrases that hold on.

Freelancing got here from the time of knights, who have been mercenaries, and their lances may serve anybody.

Now, it’s typically used to seek advice from farming out an artsy or wordy ability.

Making a lot of stops on the way in which to someplace is to take the milk run. We nonetheless speak about winding down our automotive home windows, however cranks aren’t a part of a car’s infrastructure.

These phrases will little doubt go into historical past quickly: such is the way in which and marvel of phrases.

Dr Jane Stephens is a UniSC journalism lecturer, media commentator and author. The views expressed are her personal.