A day in the life of an Ohioan turned New Yorker
journal entry #1
Published on June 23, 2004 By alison watkins In Philosophy
According to dictionary.com a “thing” is described as an idea, entity, or quality perceived, known, or thought to have its own existence. While this definition is very accurate, the term “thing” seems quite generic. Many objects and ideas can be described as things, but once one is consciously aware and educated about the actual object; wouldn’t one want to use its label to avoid confusion? After our discussion about the term “thing” in Philosophy Class, just for fun (and out of sheer boredom during my 8-5 job) I decided to tally up how many times I used the word “thing” to describe various objects during the day. It’s quite interesting how that word just seems to slip in, even when you know what the object you have temporarily labeled as a “thing” is actually called. For example, even though I know what a pen is, when I was thinking on the spot I said to myself, “This thing is running out of ink.” For this particular example, due to the context clues one might be able to narrow down the possibility that I am referring to a pen, but due to the vagueness of the word “thing”, someone might think I am talking about a computer printer, thus making the word “thing” misleading. Therefore, since I am aware of what a pen is, wouldn’t it make sense to replace the generic term “thing” with the word pen? I am now starting to view the using the term “thing” as being lazy.
Comments
on Jun 23, 2004
I love stuff... and things for that matter! I especially love this thing so much that some days I think i'll burst! Life gets like that sometimes, I guess.

How's things with you?

Oh... and welcome to JU!
on Jun 23, 2004
I guess I'm kind of a minimalist...

I am doing fine. I'm actually doing this journal as part of a class..hehe

Thanks for the post!!

AW
on Jun 30, 2004
In general I agree with you that using "thing" can be lazy. However, there are times when no specific word quite works, particuarly when trying to describe some abstract idea. Other times it's just fun to use ambiguity and see how people react.
on Jun 30, 2004
The word "thing" has become part of the American lexicon - crossing all boundaries and cultures. Need I quote the song. . ."It's your thing, do what you want to do." Or, "Look at Miss Thing over there."

It's not about being lazy, it's about being part of the culture. Thank goodness language has evolved or we'd all still be speaking in old English. What sayeth Thou?
on Jul 01, 2004
Consider those people coming from a different country, learning English. If you say Ms. Thing. They think the person's last name is Thing. It's kind of like the hippie who asked the foreigner, "Dig this hole, man." He dug a hole.