Mondays Word - Yaka Wow

As a writer I admit to being frustrated by some of the 'non' words and 'non-sentences' I see on blogs and emails, or hear in every day speech or on the TV, i.e.  "I was like - wow!" What the heck does that mean, when you actually analyse it? LOL.  I also have to admit, however, that some of it is actually quite colourful.

Take this excerpt from Michael Quinion's website:

"In what seems to have been a mixture of rueful admissionof error and pleasure in accidental accomplishment, the Times notedon 23 April that a transcription error in an interview on 15 April with the neuroscientist Baroness Greenfield has gone viral. She wasconcerned that excessive playing of computer games or using socialnetworks such as Twitter would stop the malleable brains of youngpeople developing as they should: "It's not going to destroy the planet but is it going to be a planet worth living in if you have aload of breezy people who go around saying yaka-wow. Is that thesociety we want?"

Within 24 hours, it is said, Google had 75,000results for "yaka-wow". It has inspired a Twitter stream, a page on Facebook, mugs and T-shirts; it has become a personal philosophy:"I think, therefore I yaka-wow"; and it has led to the creation of the virtual First Church of the Yaka-Wow. What Baroness Greenfieldreally said was "yuck and wow", a derogatory comment about thelimited emotional range and vocabulary of Twitter users. Considered linguistically and culturally, it's a fascinating example of the way electronic communications can today create and transmit a new word."

I think 'yaka wow' is a good step forward from plain old 'wow'!

 This article is reproduced with permission from:
*World Wide Words  - copyright (c) Michael Quinion 2010. All rights reserved. The Words Web site is at http://www.worldwidewords.org/