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I am so damned tired of people misusing the word "mathom". Here Professor Tolkien goes and invents a wonderful word - a name for a thing that never had a name before - and folks just decide "To hell with the definition, I'm just gonna use it any old way I feel like."
This ticks me off. It's rare enough that a really original, useful word gets coined, a word that really feels like it's developed on its own. To see people taking the route of using that specific term for a broad general category just makes me tired.
Gift is a perfectly servicable word, as is present. When that's what meant, why not use it? Leave mathom for the specific use for which it was intended - a gift that gets passed from hand to hand because no one can think of a good use for it. Professor Tolkien saw something that never had a name and gave it one. Why can't folks respect his craft and use the word correctly?
And don't come back with "But a mathom is a gift!" No shit, Sherlock. But it's a particular sort of gift. Take a look at LOTR - the words "gift" and "present" are used many times, interchangably. The word "mathom" is used very specifically, and only in the chapters about the Shire. Were it meant as a general term, Tolkien would not have hesitated to use it that way. Do you see him being shy about any other words, whether they're generally known or whether he made them up? No. So why not give the guy a break and use the word correctly?
This ticks me off. It's rare enough that a really original, useful word gets coined, a word that really feels like it's developed on its own. To see people taking the route of using that specific term for a broad general category just makes me tired.
Gift is a perfectly servicable word, as is present. When that's what meant, why not use it? Leave mathom for the specific use for which it was intended - a gift that gets passed from hand to hand because no one can think of a good use for it. Professor Tolkien saw something that never had a name and gave it one. Why can't folks respect his craft and use the word correctly?
And don't come back with "But a mathom is a gift!" No shit, Sherlock. But it's a particular sort of gift. Take a look at LOTR - the words "gift" and "present" are used many times, interchangably. The word "mathom" is used very specifically, and only in the chapters about the Shire. Were it meant as a general term, Tolkien would not have hesitated to use it that way. Do you see him being shy about any other words, whether they're generally known or whether he made them up? No. So why not give the guy a break and use the word correctly?
