"She likes big words...

...though we'll never comprehend."


I wonder how smart Americans are. I am not being facetious or making a reference to anyone/thing in particular. I am just curious.

I went to Starbucks today. This in and of itself did not prompt my question, nor did the vanilla latte that filled my grande cup. Rather, it was the writing on the thermo-sleeve. Nope, not the "Caution, contents may be hot" warning (though that brings up an interesting concept as well) but the word "succedaneum."

Succedaneum is a noun meaning "a succesor, one that follows." However, that is not explained on the cup. Rather, the options for meaning are: 1) changing the world one word at a time, 2) to spell it like it is, or 3) an inspirational film in theatres everywhere April 28.

The final option is a reference to "Akeelah and the Bee" which is where Starbucks got the idea for this promotion. Great, way to be catchy. But these 3 choices are the same ones that appear on every sleeve regardless of the word. But none of these options tells me what succedaneum means. The cup procliams that it was the winning word from the 2001 National Spelling Bee, but what good does that do me!? I want to know when I get my latte what the word means.

How many Americans have gotten a hot beverage in a Starbucks cup, looked at the various words written on the sleeve, and actually thought they meant "to spell it like it is?" How many people actually care enough to look up these words? How many people will use these words incorrectly because they realize that only .02% of the population is actually going to know what the heck they are talking about?

Maybe this is simply a linguist's rant, but I think it goes deeper than that. I would have respected Starbucks for actually making this a learning experience by giving the definitions of the words they use. Rather, they made it a marketing scheme that simply contributes to the using of big words by people who shouldn't use big words in the first place.

I feel I have fully elucubrated this topic. Go look that one up.