Robert Fulford’s column about the word “paradigm”
I love words. I have for many years had the habit of looking them up when I’m writing. It’s not that I don’t necessarily know what they mean. I choose a word then wonder, “does that mean what I think it does?”
I’m working on a blog post this week. It’s not coming very easy at all. I was using one of the favorite words of our time… “paradigm”… So, as dictated by my habit, I “Google it” to see if I’m using it properly and does it mean what I think it means?
I came upon Robert Fulford’s column… a must read. I’ve been laughing for hours and I’ll never look at the word “paradigm” the same way again.
http://www.robertfulford.com/Paradigm.html
(Globe and Mail, June 5, 1999)
excerpt…
Thomas Kuhn turned out to be the best friend a word ever had. He invented a phrase — “paradigm shift” — though he didn’t invent the main word. Derived from the Greek for pattern, “paradigm” had been living a respectable life in English dictionaries for centuries. It was honest but obscure, an extra in the mob scene of usage. Kuhn made it a star.
