Re: Words I Wish We Used
From: Sharon Villines (sharonsharonvillines.com)
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2015 08:23:10 -0700 (PDT)
> On Sep 7, 2015, at 10:27 AM, John Sechrest <sechrest [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Certainly, the choice of words impacts the connotations and the experience
> of the participants. Awareness of the context of the audience helps to be
> more effective on communicating.
> 
> Selecting the choice of label without that context is likely to have more
> unintended consequences and surprises.

It seems universal to people advocating anything they perceive as new, to adopt 
a distinctive vocabulary to distinguish it from what has gone before. 
Gradually, the ideas either get translated into general language or the general 
language adopts those words.

The current direction in cohousing seems to be toward attracting people who 
understand that cohousing requires that all members contribute to the 
financial, facilities, and social requirements of creating a community. But it 
is also moving toward wanting to be viewed as not odd, to share the values of 
the larger community — or the ones that would/should be ideas.

Cohousing isn’t “in trouble” and doesn’t have a “problem.” It’s a _question_ of 
does the language need a change? Would a change connect it to tradition, 
instead of the idea of the new.

To me cohousing isn’t new except in the sense that it is intentional. It is 
designed from scratch to be what it is.

A Google search on" Common House” finds mostly bars and restaurants. It’s a 
"public house.”

But in England, common house seems to be generally used for meeting spaces:

"The Common House is a collectively managed space for radical groups, projects, 
and community events.”

“House” has a more residential connotation than “center” or “hall.” A bit of 
trivia — houses (after huts and tents) were great halls that were one large 
hallway where every one in a household lived— servants, visitors, children, 
adults, and probably animals all together. So Richardson Hall, for example, 
would originally have meant a living space.  It eventually acquired a 
“withdrawing room” for the householder and his family. Over time they became 
even more elaborate. And then many became public buildings of one kind or 
another.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
http://www.sharonvillines.com





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