Epicentres Galore! Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

Pedants fume, and furious seethe with rage,
And lexis surrender shall in age,
Media always misuse
Commoners to confuse,
Quiver not nor shake, quake ‘tis on page!
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Yea, epicentre sounds a bit grander than just centre. But is used
only in context of earth-quakes—the point on the earth above
the spot quaking, from epi (Greek) , meaning over or above. But
media prefer epicentre in all contexts— political, social, economic,
any. Pedants and classicists and seismologists may quake with
anger, or boil with rage for all they care. Yet, dictionaries will
ultimately capitulate and compromise. Granted, media have their
deadlines to catch and have no time to be precise.
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- Ways of words | 06.05.14 |