Viatology
Carl Rogers
As Internet discussion of highways has proliferated over the past
decades, what was once a personal fascination has become what's now
commonly discussed in Usenet groups, chat-boards, websites books and
newspapers. As highway discussion became part of one's regular week,
some may say that the hobby outgrew itself and became an actual study.
Yet, those who are involved in the hobby had to identify w/ the terms
roadgeek, road scholar, roadfan, road enthusiast, etc. All these terms
are excellent, because it more or less describes one's personal
attachment to the field. In terms of getting this hobby into a study
and perhaps in the dictionaries of tomorrow, those terms will never
become legit because of the personal attributes given to an empirical field.
Terms like roadgeek and roadfan may have caught on initially because
English words can easily squeeze two words into one. For example, the
American fastfood restaurant Taco Bell has marketed a late night meal as
"fourth meal"--now known as "fourthmeal". It has been successful as
part of pop culture, and sometimes, these "squeezes" last on though
generations idiomatically. The word login is an example of a word
whose roots were once similar, and actually became commonplace
internationally over time.
"Road scholar" seems more like a play off of a college-based idiom,
where one is a skilled student. Thus, the term doesn't have the
independence and unique meaning for those studying roads.
"Road enthusiast" has a positive connotation, but more-or-less presents
a hobby-like feel. It carries an air of euphemism as well.
Moving forward, however, a term should be coined to discuss the study of
highways. The term "viatology"does just that.
The term "via" refers to one of the earliest highways in western
history, the Appian Way (Via Appia). As you may already know, "-ology"
refers to the study of something. If you notice a "t"in viatology,
that's simply a conjunction between "via"and "-ology".
The term viatology can also be ported into other languages for similar
meaning:
français: la viatologie
italiano: la viatologia
Deutsch: die Viatologie
That said, congratulations on all progress in the field of viatology!
The term simply refers to the study of roads, so it is an umbrella term
for all facets and sub-specialties in the field.
Cheers,
Carl Rogers
"Adding human experience to transportology"
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********
US 71
Sherman L. Cahal
> You made up a word for our hobby?
And spent this much time discussing a hobby?
Mr Sparkle
Its a Pearl Jam album too
> The term "via" refers to one of the earliest highways in western
> history, the Appian Way (Via Appia). As you may already know, "-ology"
> refers to the study of something. If you notice a "t"inviatology,
> that's simply a conjunction between "via"and "-ology".
>
> The termviatologycan also be ported into other languages for similar
> meaning:
>
> français: la viatologie
> italiano: la viatologia
> Deutsch: die Viatologie
>
> That said, congratulations on all progress in the field ofviatology!
> The term simply refers to the study of roads, so it is an umbrella term
> for all facets and sub-specialties in the field.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Carl Rogers
> "Adding human experience to transportology"
> ********
> Calrog.com,http://www.calrog.com:
Steve Sobol
Vitalogy is the name of an album by Pearl Jam. I'd argue that Pearl Jam
made it up and Carl just misspelled it. ;)
--
Steve Sobol, Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
"Drench yourself in words unspoken / Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins / The rest is still unwritten"
- Natasha Beddingfield
H.B. Elkins
--
To reply by e-mail, remove the "restrictor plate"
Steve Firth
> I don't think.
Seconded.
Froggie
>
> "Road enthusiast" has a positive connotation, but more-or-less presents
> a hobby-like feel. It carries an air of euphemism as well.
Last time I checked, this *WAS* a hobby for most of us...
Froggie
My Land of Misery
> You made up a word for our hobby?
Carl made up a word AS his hobby.
John Mayson
Hash: SHA1
On Fri, 24 Aug 2007, US 71 wrote:
> You made up a word for our hobby?
Yeah, before Carl we just pointed at the road and grunted for lack of a
word. :-)
I sort of like "viatologist". But I'm weird.
- --
John Mayson <jo...@mayson.us>
Austin, Texas, USA
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Steve A.
> You made up a word for our hobby?
I've been trying to come up with via- words relating to the hobby...
making fun of those who are a little TOO obsessed as "viasexuals".
Never thought about the study itself, but vialogy (vee-, not vie-)
cuts off one syllable, and that may make it a little catchier. i
don't think Carl's on the wrong trail, just as some of you have said,
went a little too far with it...
MLOM
The word choice begs the question: what's in his vial?
Premier Bush
> ["Followup-To:" header set to misc.transport.road.]
> On 2007-08-24, US 71 <us...@cox.net> wrote:
>> You made up a word for our hobby?
>
> Vitalogy is the name of an album by Pearl Jam. I'd argue that Pearl
> Jam made it up and Carl just misspelled it. ;)
Carl listens to PJ? I would assume that he listens to stuff like Air Supply
and Bread.
Premier Bush
> That was not a very good Pearl Jam album, I don't think.
Blasphemy! There is no such thing as a not very good PJ album. I do think
a few of the songs on Vitalogy were pointless, like "Bugs" and that weird
song at the end about the mop.
Rich Piehl
> "US 71" <us...@cox.net> said in rec.autos.driving:
>
>> You made up a word for our hobby?
>
Pretty soon you'll need babblefish just so you can understand Carl.
Lessee' there's English, French, Spanish, Russian and Carl.
Take care,
Rich
God bless the USA
--
And if I claim to be a wise man
it surely means that I don't know.
--Kansas
Marc Fannin
> The term "via" refers to one of the earliest highways in western
> history, the Appian Way (Via Appia). As you may already know, "-ology"
> refers to the study of something. If you notice a "t"in viatology,
> that's simply a conjunction between "via"and "-ology".
cf. "viaphile", August 28, 2003, on this group
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.transport.road/browse_frm/thread/21b7bd402d5cb06e
Also "pure odology" and "applied odology":
http://www.cbrd.co.uk/reference/dictionary/#odology
_____________________________________________________________________
Marc Fannin|musxf579 @hotmail.com|http://www.roadfan.com/
Archie Leach
Froggie
> highways. The term "viatology"does just that.
>
> The term "via" refers to one of the earliest highways in western
> history, the Appian Way (Via Appia). As you may already know, "-ology"
> refers to the study of something. If you notice a "t"in viatology,
> that's simply a conjunction between "via"and "-ology".
BTW, Carl, not to rain on your parade, but Dave Sturm coined the term
"MTR viologists" almost 10 years ago. What used to be his Alabama
Interstate page is here:
http://www.ajfroggie.com/roads/alroutes/alih.html
Note the I-65 entry.
Froggie