Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/03/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Paul Chefurka wrote: > > I think the use of the term giclee (it's from gicleur meaning nozzle or jet, so I think giclee means squirted or jetted) is either pretension, given that a perfectly good English word "inkjet" exists, or obscurantism. Few people know what giclee actually means, so it can be used to hide the true nature of the process, while at the same time giving it an aura of class or refinement. It is indeed obscurantism. And quite intentional. The problem is that if you say "inkjet," the average person things of some smeary printout of a school report, not a high quality photographic image. And since the "inkjet" processes now used for photographic printing are lightyears removed from the early desktop word processing printers, rather than trying to explain the changes, it's often just easier to change the name... If the Cone Piezo process is being used, I'm partial myself to the term "carbon ink print." But, hey, to each his own. As to the Scotch issue...While there are some incredibly pretentious people who make a big deal out of their Scotch consumption, single malts are as different from blended Scotch as Cone Piezography prints are from old inkjet printouts. B. D. Who No Longer Has A Sense of Smell or Taste, So The Single Malt Issue Is Moot. > Now I'm not saying the use of these terms are wrong - we have plenty of other French words in common usage in the arts, and accurately labelling a process is a good idea. I just react badly to these particular usages, so I'm really grumbling in my single-malt, practicing so I can be as good a curmudgeon some day as Buzz or Ted... > > Paul > > -----Original Message----- > From: Guy Bennett [mailto:gbennett@lainet.com] > Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 10:52 AM > To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us > Subject: RE: [Leica] WAS: SNAPS & England & the LHS: NOW "snaps use" > > Isn't "giclée" merely the French for "ink jet"? > > If so, would it be the use of the French term in English that you find > pretentious (for in this case it would not be a euphemism), or is it the > term itself? > > Guy