Porn Joins Pimp

Porn Joins Pimp Porn Joins Pimp Porn Joins Pimp By Maeve Maddox A reader has called my attention to a new use of the word porn: I would like to know, what do you think of the recent use of the word porn to mean anything pleasurable to view (i.e. Earth Porn or Word Porn)? Im interested in hearing your thoughts on this. A Web search showed me that the word porn is indeed being used as if it were an innocuous synonym for beauty (â€Å"Earth Porn†) or wisdom (â€Å"Word Porn†). Here are some of the examples I found: A collection of beautiful landscape photography and animals from all around the globe.- Tag line for a site called â€Å"earthporn.† EarthPorn Volume 1 is an immersive audible and visual experience that explores that landscapes of British Columbia, Canada. Beautiful EarthPorn Will Make You Feel Very, VERY Small- Headline, Huffington Post. EarthPorn: Mother Nature in all of her succulent [sic] beauty- Reddit. My search also showed me a blog devoted to â€Å"inspirational #wordporn quotes.† The quotations are of the kind found at sites like Brainy Quote; nothing pornographic. I found a thread on Yelp called â€Å"word porn.† It’s a forum for comments about words that are often used incorrectly, such pairs as affect/effect. Most repellent of all, I discovered a site called â€Å"FoodPornDaily† that publishes colorful photos of plates of prepared food. Porn is a clipping of the noun pornography, a combination of Greek porne, â€Å"prostitute,† and the element graphia, â€Å"depiction, drawing.† pornography noun: the explicit description or exhibition of sexual subjects or activity in literature, painting, films, etc., in a manner intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic feelings; printed or visual material containing this. It’s a paradox to me that a culture that calls for the abolition of everyday words like blind, fat, and crippled for fear of offending someone who is blind, fat, or crippled feels no compunction whatever in turning words associated with the sexual exploitation and degradation of men, women and children into everyday words. What do I think of the recent use of the word porn to mean â€Å"anything pleasurable to view†? I think it’s an abuse of meaning and the reflection of a callous culture. Related post: When Did Pimp Become A Positive Term? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Rules for Writing Numbers and Numerals30 Baseball IdiomsSentence Adverbs