This is from MW’s Usage Notes Period.
One of the surest signs that English is in good shape is that its speakers are constantly finding new aspects of its use that make them uncomfortable; we don’t spend a lot of energy complaining about changes and mutations of dead or dying languages. The past decade or so has seen the adoption of a number of new opinions, such as disgust with the use of friend as a verb, as opposed to a large number of text abbreviations (LAUGHand widespread opposition to the semantic expansion of select And person in charge.
Klaus Biesenbach thinks the word ‘Manager’ is ‘overused’— (title) New York ObserverOctober 1, 2012
Stop overusing the word ‘curator’— (subject line) national post (Don Mills. Can.), March 27, 2019
Curate is a more recent entry on the list of buzzwords that should be banned. Management is what people in art galleries do. I often hear people use the term “content management”. What they really mean choose. People who use curated words are doing so because they think they sound good. They don’t.— Alexandra Cain, newspapers (Christchurch, New Zealand), February 11, 2015
Origin of ‘Manager’
We determine person in charge is “a person responsible for looking after and overseeing something; especially the curator of a museum, zoo or other exhibition,” and the verb form of select as the person in charge. Those offended by the recent development of these words feel that their use should be restricted to subjects such as those working in museums and the careful selection of works of art; an exhibition of expressionist painters could be curatorbut it’s rude to apply the word to one’s sarcastic t-shirt collection.
However, as often happens in English, words have a habit of changing their meanings, and the recent changes in the meanings of the two words are not the first time each word has had a semantic drift. person in charge is the older of the two, used in the 14th century. Among the original meanings of the word was that applied to Roman law: “a person who roughly corresponds to the guardian of English law and is appointed to manage the affairs of a person who has passed puberty while he or she is a minor or of any such person when lawfully. incompetent (like a wasteful spender or a lunatic).” person in charge also serves as a synonym for select (“a member of the Christian clergy”). The feeling of dealing with a museum curator was not used until the 17th century.
Origin of ‘Curate’
Verb form of select is a back formation, taken from person in chargeand significantly more recent, appearing in the second half of the 19th century. Among the earliest uses of the verb, there is a verb that, sadly to say, has fallen out of use: “ to be be to be an overfeit of curate” (not a very serious definition).
Are we not appointed and administered until bishops, priests, and deacons disappear from our authority?— Liverpool mercury (Liverpool, England), 27 August 1866
Right after using this nonce, we see select began to be used in the sense of ‘carefully choosing the right kind of thing’.
We can’t miss mentioning the truly excellent library, curated by Rev. The talented JC Carrier, who is passionate about his work and whose work is displayed in a large and carefully curated library and museum.— Chicago DailyJune 24, 1869
The use of select to describe actions like putting together a basic restaurant menu, or a group of inspirational speakers, seems to have grown enormously around the turn of the 21st century. It took about a decade before these Concerns about this began to appear in the press.
from select overused when it comes to fashion, but Guinness manages its wardrobe like a gallery of sorts.— Derek Blasberg, Harper’s Market (New York, NY), March 2011
Given that both the extended use and the claims of such use are fairly new select does not appear in many manuals. Benjamin Dreyer provided an entry in his interesting 2019 book, Dreyer’s English:
Here’s where “curate” doesn’t fit very well: to describe what you’re doing as you curate a playlist of motivational songs to use in the gym, choose smoked fish for brunch or arrange a display of blouses, sneakers, and thrift books at Anthropologie.— Benjamin Dreyer, Dreyer’s English2019
You can, if you wish, keep working select in any way you see fit, but you should be aware that you’re most likely causing teething rage in your audience. So, if you’re the type of person who manages other people’s language anxiety, then this might be the perfect word for you.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
