This article is totally off-topic . In the jargon of blogs, an off-topic is when one day you write about a topic that has nothing to do with the main theme of the blog. Those of us who publish content sometimes have the need to share ideas or thoughts that are not directly related to the topic of the blog.
Today's is one of these articles. In the next few lines I am not going to reveal any photography tricks or talk to you about cameras, but I am going to make you part of some of the headaches that are associated with the job of addressing a community and writing online.
Within the obsession that characterizes me for taking care of the newsroom at BdF and for maintaining a pristine use of the language in regards to the articles and publications that we disseminate, there are times when I find myself at a fork in which, honestly, I don't know how to proceed.
It's not that I don't know what is the right use and what is the wrong use. That would have an easy solution. I would look at the RAE and go, or consult a trained philologist and go.
It's more complicated than that.
Sometimes I know the right way to say something, and the wrong way to say something, and I still don't know which one I should use.
For the new section that we have just launched called #Fotoreto, what do I say: photoreto or photoreto?
As you will have noticed, at this point I already have an option chosen. I opted for "photograph" (I'll explain it in a moment), but the truth is that every x time I run into situations of this type in which, being very clear which is the correct option, I feel that I should use the wrong way.
PHOTOGRAPH OR PHOTOSHOT?
The laps that I was giving to this! Let's see: in Spanish (or Castilian) photo is one word and challenge is another. Fotoreto (or photoreto) in principle does not exist. It is not a word referenced by academics. It is very well understood what we mean by "photograph", but as such the word does not exist. It is a wild monster, produced by the fusion of two words: photo and challenge.
This being the case, we cannot resort to the RAE or any other academic entity to guide us regarding how this word should be transcribed. But that does not prevent us from applying the same common rules of the Spanish language. If we consult those rules, and here I will try to abbreviate, the word should be transcribed as "fotoreto". The rule is marked by the r, which if pronounced as a double rr, must be transcribed as a double rr if it is in the middle of a word.
So, logic says that the new weekly format that I have just released has to be called “photoreto”. No matter how I wear it, logic says “photoreto”. Whether I like it or not, “fotoreto”.
There is no your aunt.
But wait, because this is when the fun begins.
Despite my obsession with linguistic correctness, I am one of those who believe in exceptions. I am one of those who believe in the organic and living nature of the language. Like many other languages, Spanish is constantly evolving. What yesterday was considered incorrect, today is the rule, and vice versa. The gentlemen of the RAE do not dictate how to speak and how to write, quite the contrary. From the uses that spread and become popular, from time to time, they select things and elevate them to the category of what is accepted or correct. And if not, there are selfies, memes, meatballs or... caraanchoa (don't you believe me? look it up).
What I'm getting at is that the language is a bug with its own life and consciousness: it grows, takes shape and evolves without stopping. Of course we need an academic reference (such as the RAE) that frames everything, that gives it an order. But this is not the Bible.
I believe that the language should be at the service of the human being, and not the other way around. I believe (solemnly, moreover) that we should all speak and write according to these common rules, however, words must serve the purpose for which we decide to use them.
WHAT DO I PUT, PHOTO PORTRAIT OR PHOTO PORTRAIT?
In this particular case two things happen:
- For one thing, this won't just be the name of a section. It will also be a hashtag (jastak?) for readers to upload their photos weekly to social networks. A hashtag has to be easy, simple, short, without fuss. I thought that photo shot was more direct and simple than the correct form of “photo shot”.
- On the other hand, at first the section was going to be called #PhotoChallenge. Thus, with the hashtag and the capital r, as if clearly distinguishing the two parts of the word. This seemed to be enough to allow us the license to write it with a single r. Of course, after the capital r was left behind.
- When I was considering whether to choose a fotoreto or fotoreto, the FotoRuta collection came to mind.by JdeJ Editores. I had some copies of this collection in the office, I ran to take a look and, sure enough, FotoRuta had only one r.
The word photoretro is incorrect. We are not going to argue about that. But sometimes I have to go the less orthodox path due to the exigencies of circumstances.
OPENING OR OPENING?
A few months ago a reader wrote to me indicating that in the blog we said opening and that this was incorrect, that we had to say “opening”.
First, I love that some readers take the trouble to write me an email or a comment and, in a display of respect and cordiality, point out something that they see as a possible error. They do it with all their best intentions. They do it because they care about BdF and I cannot be more grateful to these readers. Is incredible.
That being said, yes, the reader was right. Opening is wrong. One speaks of the opening of a room, for example, but when it comes to describing an orifice , the correct word is opening.
That's how it is. The only but is that... the use of this error (say opening instead of opening) is widespread. It's more. Aperture is used much more than an opening (referring to a hole).
If I'm a purist with the language (which I am) I should say opening.
But if I'm a purist with communication, with making myself understood, with simplifying explanations, with helping people understand me quickly... I prefer to use openness. Yes, the wrong word.
In BdF I have been using "opening" instead of "opening" incorrectly, consciously and deliberately, much to my regret, for 10 years. When I look back, all these amateur photographers who have been here at some time and read "diaphragm aperture", more or less easily understood what we meant and in the end they learned to use their cameras in manual mode. Or so I want to think.
If I had spoken to them with "openness" and other exquisite and immaculately correct words , I don't know if we would have been able to positively impact so many readers. Don't get me wrong, this is not an invitation to linguistic rebellion, to write as we please. You have to write as correctly as possible, but without losing sight of the supreme objective: to make yourself understood.
Writing should not be an act of pedantry or narcissism, this is not a race to see who uses the most exquisite words. Right now a well-known phrase comes to mind that a famous American writer and screenwriter once said (I don't remember) when he was asked something like that his works could not be followed by anyone, that they were made for a prepared audience and with a high level.
The guy replied “Fuck the average reader” (in some translations it comes out as “fuck the average viewer”).
I say no more.
Happy photography.
