Recently, I received an e-mail from a respected publisher’s list that I’m on. I believe the original was titled something like “Book Porn.”
My original reaction to the word porn was to just delete it. Then after 6 or 7 responses and additions came through from respected publishers, I took a look. It was a wonderful collection of libraries, book shelves, and bookstores. So much so, I was tempted to take a picture of ours to add to the collection. The photo shown is Shakespeare & Co. via comeremospalomas.
I was not familiar with why the word porn was used. It was obvious that many other also were not.
Katharine O’Moore explained it. Rather than try to improve on her excellent explanation, I’m going to quote her comment:
“…you might want to take a few deep, calming breaths. I’m not the
person who posted the original link, which was to photos of libraries and
shelves upon shelves of books, which all of us in publishing love.
“Porn is a trendy word these days when used to mean anything that someone who is highly interested in the topic at hand would consider as attention-getting as real pornography can be.
“Bloggers talk about food porn (i.e., exquisite photos of elaborately prepared meals and desserts), interior decoration or architecture porn (i.e., gorgeous shots of drool-worthy rooms and buildings), etc. It’s a buzzword, nothing more.
“No one who’s using the term in that manner is intending to trick anyone into thinking they’ll get a look at real pornography. Instead, users of the term are thinking that those who read it are up-to-date with current pop-cultural trends in word use.
“Cheers,
Katharine O’Moore-Klopf, ELS (board-certified editor in the life sciences; see http://www.bels.org)
KOK Edit: Your favorite copyeditor since 1984(SM)
http://www.kokedit.com
https://twitter.com/KOKEdit”
This is still not a term that I would be comfortable using myself in writing, but I do feel it is important to keep up with pop culture and current buzz words. They are an ongoing, changing development. Do I like definitions not being what they were initially meant to convey? No, because it is confusing for many. Do I accept that our dictionaries change to reflect current trends? Yes, so I really appreciate this explanation from Katharine. Norm and I do a lot of editing, and this was a new definition for us.
International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association
Books By Hills Success With Writing Where & What in the World
Member: Society of Professional Journalists
Finalist in the Writing and Publishing category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards,
“$uccess, Your Path to a Successful Book,”
