I care too much about words, in case that hasn’t been made clear by my previous posts. Well friends, today is a special day as I have found an entire category of words that I really dislike. Admittedly, the category only has two words in it so far, but it’s a category nonetheless. For more information on my discovery, please meet me over at paragraph two.
Let’s start with “master of ceremonies,” shall we? What’s wrong with that? Nothing, although it would sound weird to me if someone said that whole phrase instead of the much more common “MC.” But I go from understanding to angry when “MC” turns into “emcee.” In all seriousness, what the fuck is that about? We’re shortening it to its initials, but then elongating it to a word that spells out the sounds of those initials? Why in the world would we do that?
Oh, and guess who might be at the same party as the master of ceremonies: the frickin’ deejay. Yep, same thing going on here. “Emcee” and “deejay” are actual words, and reasonable or not, that really bothers me. If this abbreviation elongation is such a good idea, then why aren’t we turning “M.O.” into “emmo?” Are we eventually going to “elloell” while watching “teevee?”
The idea of stretching out shortened versions of words or terms makes no sense to me whatsoever. Come on, English, you’re better than that. Remember, I want to be moved by words and not pissed off by them. Sorry, “peeode.”