The Word

Dear Apple: Stop the funnification!

Advertisers love coining words nearly as much as critics love skewering them

By Ben Zimmer
Globe Staff /  September 22, 2012
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Whether it’s snack-food munchstrosities or funnified iPods, all of this belabored wordplay can get downright tiring. And to jaded consumers, too much linguistic innovation may appear to be papering over a deficiency in actual product innovation. These days, iPods aren’t as revolutionary as they once were, as new models show only incremental improvements. Apple should beware: If its advertising continues down this wordalicious path, its products may end up seeming as overhyped as the latest snacksperiment from the Doritologists.

Ben Zimmer is the executive producer of VisualThesaurus.com and Vocabulary.com. He can be reached at benzimmer.com/contact.end of story marker

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