Bokeh becomes a verb, by Apple

Is it not soooooo exciting to see the birth of a new word?! It certainly was so when I saw a new ad by Apple. The ad is about the depth control of iPhone, and three mothers talk about how the picture of a child is blurred by using the word "bokeh".

Bokeh comes from a Japanese word ぼけ (blurr, hazy), and my ignorance pains me, but the word is fairly universal in the world of photography. The word was introduced and popularized in 1997 in a photography magazine. The Japanese word ぼけ has several meanings, but the photographic technical term bokeh means a kind of artistic haziness / blur, and photographic magazines takes it up as technical topics in their articles. Back then, the term bokeh was used as a noun, which seems to be the usual start of neology ('to achieve great bokeh', 'bokeh produced by ** lens', 'creative application of bokeh' ),.

Now, the noun bokeh has come to a new phase - it has become a verb! And I feel that it will be firmly and casually accepted in our vocabulary, owing to the power of Apple. The mothers in the ad talks as below:

mother 1 : Did you bokeh my child?
mother 2 : Um, no, that was totally unintentional...
               Look, I can un-bokeh, see...  Bokeh, un-bokeh.
mother 1 : Wow, what kind of person bokehs a child?
               I would never bokeh your child.


The word is so naturally conjugated as a regular transitive verb, used in interrogative sentence, affixable too.

This verb-ing of the word may already have been done among photograph enthusiasts, but the impact of the ad by the "Apple" certainly will get the word accepted universally.

Oh, and please do read the comments sent to the article  about this verb-ing of Bokeh by Apple. Many photograph lovers write about the word bokeh, how the term was used as a noun first, and it does not mean just a blur but the quality needs to be considered... etc.

On British Accent in America

I recently read an article about parents in America noticing their toddlers developing British accent and vocabulary (and also snorting at the end of the sentence), very different to their parents'. The children are influenced by the British based animated TV show "Peppa Pig".

The show follows a life of Peppa Pig and his brother George, and his family and friends. I think it is quite addictive, the little children (animal children) speaking in cute lisping British accent. They say 'mummy', 'daddy' and 'biscuit', pronounce 'tomato' with a long /a/. The characters speak in British, but in different accent, but mainly in southern accent.

The show attracts children around 2 to 5 years old, a very sensitive age for acquiring language and accent.

We can read on Twitter tweets of parents about their children's British accent, and a lot of them sound quite happy and find it cute that their children are developing, to them, 'foreign' accent.

To Americans, the British accent seems to be attractive, charming. Maybe it brings up the impression of the Royal family, and monarchy is something that America has never had in its history since the discovery of the continent.

This reminds me of one of my favourite movie, "Love Actually" (2009). Colin Frissell, perpetually girlfriend-less caterer living in London, thinks that British girls are stuck-up and that is why he cannot find a girlfriend. He hits on a great idea, to go to America where his cute British accent will be a killer to American girls.

'American girls would seirously dig me with my cute British accent'

He also says in another scene,
'Stateside I am Prince William without the weird family.'
Well, a lot of people have the idea that girls are waiting for their prince charming.

And Colin's British accent instantaneously pulls the American girls, 3 all together, later 4. Well, it's a movie.

An American student studying in England called this "Colin Frissell Effect" in his blog. He asked his English uni friend who has studied in the States if the friend confirmed this effect. Unfortunately it didn't work so easily as the movie for him. The blogger however does think that British accent, no matter which, automatically gives the Americans the impression of James Bond, Hugh Grant, Harry Potter and Jude Law rolled into one (and would you not be attracted if all of them came in one package?!).

I remember from an interview of Kazuo Ishiguro talking about how he speaks (accent), when he was asked about his Japanese origin and his British-ness. When he wants to be recognized more for his British side, he tries to sound like Hugh Grant, and that sort of awes his listeners.

I found another article about trying to confirm with American guys if Brit guys' accent was an advantage when it comes to meeting girls. Some of them do believe that British accent has 'the charm', surely becomes an icebreaker, and the Brits get a head start.

Accent has power to charm the listeners, and 'charm' is a topic I want to write about in the future

Konmari'd - Life changing Magic of Tidying up 02

Tidying up your house brings magic to your life, it has even become religious, owing to Marie Kondo!

In the entry of December 2016, I wrote about the Japanese decluttering consultant and specialist Marie Kondo.

https://barefootphilolo.blogspot.com/2016/12/konmaringlife-changing-magic-of-tidying.html

Her book translated into English and other languages were skyrocket hit and put her into the global spotlight. The organizational guru presently based in the States became even more cultural phenomenon these days owing to her Netflix shows of home makeovers. (And recently she has been accused and attacked on media by bibliophiles who were offended personally when Marie Kondo said the ideal number of books to keep is 30.)

https://konmari.com/

As in the same line with the book, her website and show upgrade "the magic" of KonMari method targeting the  non-Japanese audience - KonMari sits on the floor and solemnly greets the house like a ritual when she is to embark on the client's home makeover, there are pictures of her lovingly touching boxes as to show how she appreciates all the things whether be kept or thrown away, the show narrates that she has been inspired by the philosophy of Shintoism and has applied it to her method. Marie Kondo's lovely Asian looks also adds mysterious Oriental taste that interest Western people.

KonMari method is not just magic, now it is near religion -  and Americans love it.

To show how widespread it is, the word KonMari, or her method has been mentioned in popular comedy drama lines. Emily Gilmore in "Gilmore Girls : A Year in the Life" rummages through the piles of her belongings aiming to declutter her life, tells her daughter if she knows Marie Kondo, the Japanese woman.

"Does this bring joy?"
(Feels the dress near her heart.)
"Nope"
(Chucks it away.)



I have seen new kinds of hashtags on social medias since the last entry.

#KonMaried
#Konmari'd
#Konverts

Past tenses were not so popular before, but now there are people showing off the result of the makeover of their shelf or wardrobe or desk on Instagram hashtagged #KonMaried / #Konmari'd.

I also saw a title of an article "The husband was KonMaried..."  Used in a passive (also in a negative nuance though)! This coined word is making a steady growth!

And #Konverts!
It denotes people who are so influenced and devoted to KonMari method.
Now this is really getting religious.