What do you think of the name "liseuse?"

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i could argue that rudeness *never* belongs, and that there was certainly no ill-intent in that original post.

there are many different words being used here for various things, not everyone is using the same one (e-reader, ereader, ebook reader, liseuse, device, etc.) and there is nothing wrong with that. the whole digital reading phenomenon is relatively recent, on a historical time-scale, and language is still evolving around it. again, if you don't like the word, just ignore it.

To me, if you are reporting on a bit of news, use the word(s) that the manufacturer uses even if you don't like it. The manufacturer is the one to name their own device. News is meant to be reported upon as fact or as much fact as we can get. It's not fact when the name of the device is changed to something else. I think that is what caused this outcry against the word.

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

To me, if you are reporting on a bit of news, use the word(s) that the manufacturer uses even if you don't like it. The manufacturer is the one to name their own device. News is meant to be reported upon as fact or as much fact as we can get. It's not fact when the name of the device is changed to something else. I think that is what caused this outcry against the word.

This isn't the New York Times, it's a community of people who can title their reporting of the news any way they like.

[JSWolf]

I also feel that what helped with this issue is trying to get the word into the wiki. We know it's not a real word. So trying to treat it like such in a place it should not be was just wrong. I understand it's use on MR. But to go so far as to go try to wiki it is going too far.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I also feel that what helped with this issue is trying to get the word into the wiki. We know it's not a real word. So trying to treat it like such in a place it should not be was just wrong. I understand it's use on MR. But to go so far as to go try to wiki it is going too far.

how is it not a real word ?

[dmikov]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

No, your reaction (as in so many other threads) accounts for the derailment. Those already part of the community know the word and know its meaning. Those new to the community would have learned the word (and its history) just as with every other word that is new like - ePub, DRM, eink etc.

What you and your fellow cohorts did was over-react to a bit of fun with language that some of us were using and enjoying. You turned what was a light-hearted and playful adoption of a beautiful sounding word into some kind of personal insult to you.

If you'd just ignored the word (as so many did) then you would have found no resistance, the word might have even died a natural death. But now you and yours have polarised the community, drawn a line in the sand and dared others to cross that line.

There's nothing I like more than a lost cause or a line in the sand

EDIT: This was meant for JSWolf not Tompe

Funny, you blame others for overreacting, and in the same post talking about taking a stand for lost cause over the line in the sand. And I assume keep pushing for <any word that others don't understand>.*
Might it just be possible, that it is you and the people pushing this word that cause disruption?

Plus look at the poll, those part of the community as you put it don't like this word in vast majority.

* That is the definition of trolling if you consiously continue doing it.
In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response[1] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.[2]

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by dmikov

* That is the definition of trolling if you consiously continue doing it.
In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response[1] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.[2]

that sounds like an excellent description of what the anti-liseuse brigade has been doing recently in various threads using the word.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

how is it not a real word ?

It's a real word in french that sometimes gets used in the context some on mr use it for, it is not a real word as far as english usage is concerned where it no more means ebook reader than bob or ted.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Crowl

It's a real word in french that sometimes gets used in the context some on mr use it for, it is not a real word as far as english usage is concerned where it no more means ebook reader than bob or ted.

i'm pretty sure a few years ago most would have said that "ebook" was not a real word, either. and i'd be curious to know how many of these words are in, say, the OED, and when they entered.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

It only derails threads because some of the people who don't like the word decide to get pissy about it. It's not the word that derails the thread; it's the rude people.
....

Perhaps true, but to use a word that is not a word is not very useful either.

What if I and others decide to call this forum betleguese and use it every time we mention the forum.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

I agree, and I find it not only very surprising but also disappointing and unworthy of this community, when MobileRead's distinction is that we have always tried to be welcoming and inclusive of everyone here.

So you don't think that it is non-welcoming and exclusionary to persist in trying to use this word in things like english news posts, particularly in respect to new people? Taking myself as an example, when first searching for ebook-related topics a lot of searches lead to this site and there should be a certain level of responsibility to not be actively trying to confuse new visitors, which is what the use of what is basically a random word amounts to.

Note that I am talking specifically about the reactions of the people who don't like the word "liseuse", completely detached from the question of whether or not it will ever be widely used in english. It's also rather ironic given what a diverse variety of loan words english already uses and particularly how many of the "english" words being used in these posts have french origins.

People keep bringing up this issue of loan words and thats actually a bit of a red herring because the word isn't even the main choice in its own language, which is usually the case when words end up being adopted by another language.

[kennyc]

Okay I take it back, it is a real FRENCH word, but the translation via babelfish is "reading light" -- not sure that is accurate for an ebook reader in any case.

[FixB]

I like the world 'cause it's as far away from the iThis and the eThat as one can hope. And we already made enough of those !

(and having a french world instead of the usual english one is sooo nice and new ! Let's hope for some spanish next time).

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

This isn't the New York Times, it's a community of people who can title their reporting of the news any way they like.

That really is such a cop-out, why should this being a website mean that people should actively try not to report news accurately?

Also, just try doing some searches on ebook topics and very often you will see that this site heads the results, so in many ways this site is more important in its field than the nyt.

[Sparrow]

I haven't voted.
I think most polls that have 'hate' as one of the options tend to produce more heat than light.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by FixB

...

(and having a french world instead of the usual english one is sooo nice and new ! Let's hope for some spanish next time).

.