I was browsing Youtube this morning looking for a funny Friday clip, and I stumbled across the Hot For Words girl. I was vaguely aware of her, but I had never really paid much attention to her videos. This morning I decided to watch. I post the video here to pose a question. Does this promote learning? I watched the entire clip, but it wasn’t to find out about the word “Barbarian.” Is using blatant sexuality an effective teaching tool? I’ll leave it for you to decide. BTW – For parents, this is PG-13 material.
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For those of you who are interested, the origin of the word “Pander” is:
pander (n.) Look up pander at Dictionary.com
“arranger of sexual liaisons, one who supplies another with the means of gratifying lust,” 1530, “procurer, pimp,” from M.E. Pandare (c.1374), used by Chaucer (”Troylus and Cryseyde”), who borrowed it from Boccaccio (who had it in It. form Pandaro in “Filostrato”) as name of the prince who procured the love of Cressida (his niece in Chaucer, his cousin in Boccaccio) for Troilus. The story and the name are of medieval invention. Spelling infl. by agent suffix -er. The verb meaning “to indulge, to minister to base passions” is first recorded 1602.
http://www.etymonline.com/
It’s really eerie how well that fits in this situation.
Hey R.W. Ridley! Glad you found me
It may be a little unorthodox what I do.. but it’s reaching about 500,000 people a day and seems to be sparking newfound interests in etymology. I know this from the flood of emails that I get every day.
I’d be curious to hear what your readers think as well. I am merely taking what seems to appeal to the generation of today.. their obsession with the Paris Hiltons/Britney Spears of the world.. and tricking them into learning a little about the words that comprise their language. It’s the perfect “history lesson for those with a short attention span”.
Marina
Well, I have to say it’s a very unique approach, and I can imagine every red-blooded boy from 12 to 80 hangs on your every word (me included), but I am really curious as to whether this kind of pop culture approach to teaching is effective. I’m wondering if you’ve ever heard from parents. Any indication as to whether you’re helping SAT scores across the country?
BTW – What about the distaff side of the classroom? How will they ever take an interest in etymology?
I never said my lessons were meant for kids. You can learn at any age and my lessons are not targeted towards kids. I am not a teacher in a classroom, I am 1 of millions of people on YouTube. If I can get someone in their early twenties interested in etymology.. than I feel that I have accomplished something. I have found that people that cannot get beyond my looks tend to have issues that I don’t have the wherewithal to address. We live in a puritanical society.. and that is not my problem.. it’s other people’s problems. I am merely doing what I do best and reaching MILLIONS of people doing it. Some people will like it.. and others won’t.. but that’s the very definition of success. Right?
Well, whatever you’re doing you’re doing something right. My traffic increased 105% yesterday because of this post. People like sex. What can I say? The stats don’t lie.
BTW – What’s the most ironic word in the English language?
I would say that ironic is the most ironic word as most people use it incorrectly. In fact, I just used it incorrectly! How ironic.. oops.. did it again!
Monosyllabic – a five syllable word that means having one syllable.
You should know that I understand what you’re doing, and I know it appears that I’m passing judgment, but I’m not. I come off much more sardonic than I really am. My interest is that of a writer of young adult fiction. I know you are not aiming for that audience, but you must know they are a big part of your fan base. While your venture is much more innocent than young adult books such as “The Gossip Girls” and “Clique,” it is highly sexually charged all the same. I am thanked by parents all the time for leaving sexual content out of my books. However nothing is ever said of the violent content. This has always fascinated me about Americans. We are much more willing to expose our children to violence rather than sexuality. Incidentally, I don’t leave sexual content out of my books for moral issues (although, I don’t think they have any place in YA fiction). I just have very little talent for writing passages of a sexual nature. This post was merely an attempt to explore my curiosity on the subject.