Thread: The word liseuse being used outside of MobileRead?
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Old 06-18-2010, 06:26 PM   #103
JSWolf
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward View Post
A small group of geeks created a tag and used it. It filled a descriptive void, and became part of common usage. This happens in living languages with changing technologies.

We have a cluster of devices, all designed to read formatted electronic images of paper books as their primary function. English does not have a unique word that describes these devices, that does not already have other common usages. Most of the suggested words not unique, either being defined as existing formats (confusion), or don't distinguish between the device and the images being read/displayed, or flat out being confused with it's analog predecessor.

In France, they had the same problem, and they created a word to specifically describe the devices in question. Some of us have picked up the word from francophones, because it fills a lexicographic in the English language, and is short (2 syllables). Furthermore, being a recent import, it has <no> overlap with any other term currently in use.

If this is a bother, then the people who are offended by it need to create a unique term for use in English to describe these devices, and for popular usage, it needs to be two syllables or less, and have <no> overlap with existing technology.

(Note, the term e-book (with or without hyphen) is now a worldwide term for the digital image of a book. nobody confuses it with any other usage. The readers of e-books need a word with the same level of uniqueness.)

Of course, some people like me may still use the French word, just as a bon mot.
The term used mostly is eBook (note the capital B). As for needing a word to describe our readers, if we are to find such a word, we need to find a word that's never been in existence. It's not going to work to shoehorn what our readers are into an existing word. This silly word already have meanings that are not fitting. eReader already has a meaning. So that's out.

What these devices are currently are Electronic Document Display Device or in shorthand, EDDD.

Have you used your EDDD today?
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