The words "roadmap" and "skyrocket" have peculiar usages, and I'm not sure why.
When a CEO explains an organization's course, she presents her roadmap, which is a plan consisting of words and maybe some pictures or charts. When you're driving in a car, you look at a map. If you were to say "roadmap," you would sound redundant and silly. You don't use Google Roadmaps; you use Google Maps.
In the past few years, analysts say the price of homes skyrocketed. When NASA launches the space shuttle, they strap booster rockets, not booster skyrockets, to the space shuttle to lift it through the atmosphere. Before sporting events Americans sing about "the rocket's red glare," not about skyrockets. Only to describe a rapid escalation in price do we use the verb skyrocket. The exception to this, as pointed out to me by Randy Carnevale, is "Afternoon Delight" by Starland Vocal Band.
Friday, February 08, 2008
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2 comments:
Tom, on a slightly different note, you know what else pisses me off? That you can be "building" a "building." Why is the same exact word both a verb and a noun?
Don't even get me started on the word "colonel."
Having said this, English should be our national language and the language of the world.
The title of this post should have been "Skyrockets in flight."
ALso: Thanks for blogging again.
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