Words

The . . . uh . . . thing about language is, so many good words are already taken. They already have strong associations built-in, so it's hard to re-task them.

Case in point: I was ruminating earlier today (back off!) about composition, performance, improvisation, that sort of thing. And I started to think that there are three . . . things of composition:

Type 1, there is the composition, and there is the performance,
Type 2, the performance is part OF the composition, and
Type 3, the performance IS the composition.

Now, we can talk more about the specifics later, but right now, this bugs me. I don't like the "type" way of doing this, because it sounds like diabetes. (Or, if you're Wilfred Brimley, "diabetis".)

My first thought was to call them "categories," so we would have "category 1," etc. After having lived in Florida for 15 years, categories are for hurricanes. 'Nuff said.

Brands? Cereal. Species? Counterpoint, animals, and Natasha Henstridge. Forms? Too many to list.

Then again, not so long ago, "gay" meant "happy." I guess meanings can change.