Our orator

Thomas Beckett thomas at tbeckett.com
Mon Jan 3 10:59:11 EST 2000


	If you haven't already, definitely read Christina Dyrness's interview
with our own Steven Champeon in today's N&O Biz section.  As usual,
Steven is interesting and articulate.  

http://www.news-observer.com/daily/2000/01/03/biz02.html

	I particularly dig the story about Steven's entry into online rhetoric
in the Spider Robinson newsgroup.  

	Interestingly, Christina introduces him as "a great online orator". 
While I fully agree in the sense she intended, my semantic brain cannot
sit still with that usage.  This is because the word "orator" comes from
the Latin root for "mouth":  one who uses his mouth.  So "online orator"
is rather a contradiction in terms.  He uses his fingers, not his
mouth.  (Actually he uses his head, but the fingers -- or mouth -- form
the words.)  

	Potential tasteless jokes aside, perhaps a more appropriate word for an
Internet rhetorician -- and I really love this -- is "digitor".  

	"Steven Champeon:  great online digitor."  Can you roll with that one?  

Tom



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