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"Incel" etymology: Difference between revisions
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The terms "[[incelibate]]" or "[[incel]]" are abbreviations of "involuntary celibate". It is one of many other terms that describe involuntarily celibate people. See the articles [[synonyms]] and [[synonyms of inceldom]] for a summary. But why has the term "incel" caught on? Why haven't any of the other terms with a similar meaning been as catchy or as popularized? This can be explained by two generalized factors; (a) phonetics and (b) accuracy. [[Ton den Boon]] was the first lexicographer to define the term "incel", defining it as a gender-neutral noun, meaning someone who lives involuntarily celibate. | The terms "[[incelibate]]" or "[[incel]]" are abbreviations of "involuntary celibate". It is one of many other terms that describe involuntarily celibate people. See the articles [[synonyms]] and [[synonyms of inceldom]] for a summary. But why has the term "incel" caught on? Why haven't any of the other terms with a similar meaning been as catchy or as popularized? This can be explained by two generalized factors; (a) phonetics and (b) accuracy. [[Ton den Boon]] was the first lexicographer to define the term "incel", defining it as a gender-neutral noun, meaning someone who lives involuntarily celibate. | ||
The | The equivocal nature of its etymological derivatives means that "incel" is a catch-all term that covers everyone who seems to be unable to get a romantic partner. This is unlike "[[love-shy]]" which is primarily focused on [[mentalcel]]s, or "[[TFL]]" which has a specified focus on peculiar causes, and uses the word "forced" thereby hinting at an external overbearing entity. | ||
Some critics criticize the term "involuntary celibacy" without having a full grasp of of the scope of the terms "involuntary" or "celibacy". "Involuntary" is simply another word for unintentional; celibacy has a broader scope too as explained in the "polyseme" section. | |||
==Phonetics== | ==Phonetics== | ||
The term "incelibate" has only four syllables and is thus easy to pronounce. The term "incel" has even less syllables; two, and is thus even easier to pronounce. The former has the advantage of being instantly recognizable since "celibate" is contemporary and in widespread usage, while for the latter there are no other words in the English language with close very permutations, sounds, or semantic equivalence. | The term "incelibate" has only four syllables and is thus easy to pronounce. The term "incel" has even less syllables; two, and is thus even easier to pronounce. The former has the advantage of being instantly recognizable since "celibate" is contemporary and in widespread usage, while for the latter there are no other words in the English language with close very permutations, sounds, or semantic equivalence. | ||
The only reason that incels or incelibates use an abbreviated form of the longer term is that, "incel", has only two syllables, thus is easier to say. "Incelibate" has four syllables, again easy to say. In contrast, the term "involuntarily celibate person" has 11 syllables, which is much harder to say. Therefore, the term "incel" is to "involuntary celibate" the same thing as what "lb" is to "pound". "Incelibate" is to "involuntarily celibate" the same as what "USA" is to the "United States of America". Just because a longer term is abbreviated doesn't mean that the definition has changed. So in a nutshell, "incel" is simply an abbreviation of the term "involuntarily celibate". | |||
The terms are simplified with its usage of simple grammar that befits Ogden's basic English. As such, it is easily malleable for linguistic morphology, which has been fully utilized in the [[incelosphere]] with the additional coinages of multiple derivatives through additions of affixes, such as in "[[inceldom]]", or prefixes, as in "[[mentalcel]]" etc. Both abbreviations are also catchy. The longer way of saying "incel" is "involuntarily celibate person", however this lengthened term is rarely used because it has 11 syllables. | The terms are simplified with its usage of simple grammar that befits Ogden's basic English. As such, it is easily malleable for linguistic morphology, which has been fully utilized in the [[incelosphere]] with the additional coinages of multiple derivatives through additions of affixes, such as in "[[inceldom]]", or prefixes, as in "[[mentalcel]]" etc. Both abbreviations are also catchy. The longer way of saying "incel" is "involuntarily celibate person", however this lengthened term is rarely used because it has 11 syllables. | ||