Saturday, August 6, 2005

Define This Phenomenon

There's got to be a word to describe this. I've had this experience before, many times, where I see a word or phrase which I'm certain I've never seen used before in my entire life. And then, in the course of days, I see it again and again. What is that called?

For example, what spurred this post is that I recently saw a word of recent coinage in digital photography. I don't know how recent; after all, I just saw it used for the first time a few days ago. Now I'm reading Thom Hogan's review of the Nikon D2x and I see it again: chimping:


Still, I can't imagine a situation where I'd need more than two batteries for a day's shoot, though there may be a few prolific photojournalists out there that disagree. Indeed, if you shoot less than 500 images in a session, you'll probably do fine with just one battery, regardless of how much chimping you do.



And yes, while the word in question seems to be derogatory, I have been known to 'chimp'.


1 comment:

  1. Ah yes an interresting buzzword. The definition I've heard for it is slightly different and makes a bit more sense:
    Chimping: The "ooooh! ooooh!" sounds made by people when they spot a good photo while reviewing the images on the back of their digital cameras
    For more amusement on this level check out
    www.buzzwhack.com

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