Ick. Okay, okay. So, I'm new to the industry. Just out of journalism school, I haven't really been around the GeoTechnologies long enough to have a complete understanding of all the lingo. As if it wasn't enough to learn terms like DEM, DOs, GIS, GPS, and the likes, and to be able to differentiate them from one another in the six months I've been at EOM, now I'm supposed to stomach the use of made-up words! I'm a stickler on proper word usage. I looked up 'mosaicking' in several dictionaries after my spell-check alerted me that it was incorrect. Needless to say, I couldn't find it. So, our publisher, Roland Mangold tells me that 'mosaicking' is a commonly used term in the industry. And, because it is difficult to replace in proper context, I've had to give in and print it, bending the rules of the English language. I don't mean to be argumentative (although some may argue otherwise), but even if we allowed for a noun to suddenly be made into a verb, you can't just add a 'k' before the suffix -ing. And, maybe it's because the word is wrong in the first place, but 'mosaicing' (without the 'k') looks more like some tropical frosting on a cake than a GeoTech term. I guess I'll have to allow it. Strength in numbers can't be argued with, but my advice is this... If we expect the general public, and perhaps more importantly, the media to take the GeoTechnologies seriously and to be able to understand its terminology, we must stick to proper word usage. Let's take the 'ick' out of 'mosaicking,' and just call it 'tiling a mosaic' whenever possible. This goes for all other 'creative' GeoTech terms, as well. And please, don't let my anal attention to detail deter any of you from submitting your stories to EOM for publication. That's why I'm an editor and you're a GeoTech pro. You stick to your mosaic tiling, I'll stick to hanging participles, modifiers, plurals, etc. Keep those stories, questions, and comments rolling in, and don't forget that we have updated contact information listed below for our new office! And for those of you who are saying to yourselves, "Roland never complained about our grammar," his editorial can be found every month in our newsletter, The GeoTech Business Intelligence Report. Best regards, Sabrina Henderson Editor Back |