Word Play: Gadget

One of the things that fascinates me about the English language is the etymology of everyday words and phrases that we'll throw out into our conversations. These are words that we won't usually think twice about- words that we take for granted- but they each have their own interesting histories, and have often come a long way from their original meanings. So why not explore these origins from time to time? In some cases, it can add emphasis or meanings to a word that you had otherwise been unaware of. I'll start us off.

Gadget

Nowadays it is the norm for people to be carrying around an assortment of 'gadgets'. A gadget in modern terms is an electronic device, often novel in its function, that can be used to make our lives easier or more entertaining. Today, a checklist for leaving the house might include:

• Remote unlocking car keys
• Smartphone
• Mp3 player/ Headphones/Earphones
• Fitness tracker/pedometer
• Smart watch
• Camcorder/ Camera
•  Battery charger/ charging cable
• Spare batteries
• Spare spare batteries

Of course, many of these gadgets have been amalgamated into one 'super gadget', allowing you to make calls, listen to music, take selfies and browse Facebook on the go. But it was not always so. Going back just 15 years and people would be carrying around satchels full of gadgets, in order to make their life less 'cumbersome', even though you could barely fit a Walkman in your pocket without your clothes ripping. Funny how that works. 

Whereas in modern popular culture it is desirable to have the smallest, thinnest, most lightweight, shiny devices possible, back in the day, it was hip to have the biggest gadgets possible. Massive boombox speakers were all the rage once (some of you may remember) and the introduction of the mobile telephone was 'groundbreaking', despite it weighing more than a small child and being sturdy enough to use as a murder weapon. This was more akin to gadgets' original meaning.

The word 'Gadget' first came into use in the latter half of the 19th century, originally spelled gadjet. It was used to describe any mechanical part or object for which a sailor, likely rum-soaked, forgot the name of. Going back even further, to the 15th Century, the slang word gadjet has been suggested to be a derivative of the French 'gâchette' meaning the catch piece of a mechanism, such as the trigger of a pistol.

One of the oldest 'gadgets' in existence is the Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient analogue computer, used by the ancient Greeks for astrological study as well as for the timing of Olympic Games. It is comprised of 30 clockwork gears, and is read by the inscriptions found on the casing, though these are largely illegible now. It was discovered in 1900, off the coast of Antikythera, Greece but is said to date back to anywhere between 250-100BCE. 

So, it is understandable that today we might refer to an electronic device as a gadget, purely to avoid stating or repeating brand names or types; it is far simpler to ask someone to 'check something on their gadget' than to ask them 'would you mind looking something up on your Samsung Galaxy S6+ gold edition?'. Furthermore, like those sailors of two centuries past, we might also not understand the function of said item of technology, and therefore call it a gadget to avoid embarrassment- parents are particularly prone to this act of avoidance.

Gadgets can be a blessing and a curse in the modern era, making our lives easier with their time saving functionality, but also detracting from it with their addictive nature. We should use these devices in moderation. As for the word 'gadget', go wild.

Hello 'New' World.

At various points in my life so far I've considered writing a blog. At first this was because I loved writing short stories, often about a stuffed tiger toy I owned. These were imaginatively entitled 'Tiger's Travels'. Yes, I was cute, once. These were fun, simple stories that I thought would be cool to share with people. But bearing in mind this was back in the days of primary school, when we had very little computer access, and even less experience with word processing or internet publishing, and it is understandable that I didn't really get into blogging at this young age. Instead I wrote these and other short stories down in a little notebook given to me by one of my great-aunts- until I lost it :'(

Next was the 'Myspace stage', somewhere between the ages of 6-10, where I would collate all of the funny pictures or YouTube videos that I had stumbled across when using my local libraries' computers. I had collected some hilarious videos, let me assure you; but with the passage of time- and the forgetting of login details- that wonderful fore-runner of modern humour websites was lost for good. Shame.

In Secondary School,  from time to time, we were told that writing blogs was a good way to build up our personal writing skills as they were essentially a diary that we would be sharing with the public, giving us some sense of good-manners and propriety in the process. I was too busy reading, or playing football during this period to pay much attention to this suggestion, so this one kind of passed me by, but I trust my literary skills did not suffer; too much, at least.

The first written blogging I tried was in the later years of Secondary School and in the early part of Sixth Form. However, with my workload, this faded into nonexistence just as its predecessors had done. I wrote some short little commentaries on literary pieces, something that interested and still interests me greatly, but I found my peers were more interested in celebrity affairs (yes, that word has dual meaning), football teams or the latest run-and-gun first person shooter games, which at that point I didn't particularly feel like writing about.

I'm now at University, and it has dawned on me that a great way of building up a portfolio of writing for future use or at least giving me a way to practice writing in my downtime is to start a blog, and hopefully stick with it this time! I can't promise that I'll write often, and I can't give a catch-all statement as to what my content might be about, but I love linguistics, literature, music, science, some video games, internet shenanigans and a bit of dry humour every now and then. If any of those things interest you, feel free to keep an eye out.

M