This is a little annoyance I have, one that is a complete turn off when I am reading about science or technology in the press or online. Many of the articles insist on using words like Boffin when talking about scientists and the work they are doing. I guess this is a wider issue for me too as I can not read a tabloid paper at all any more as their use of language is infuriatingly juvenile but also super repetitive. Words such as, evil, monster, hanky panky, Gotcha, using bed as an adjective, snub, wacko, Etc. You know what I mean if you have ever read one. So for this very reason I never buy a tabloid and rarely read an article online from one.
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| This has to be one of the most well know headlines and a perfect example of what I mean. |
In regards to science and technology, I often read these sections on sites and use the Google news a lot to get a varied range of articles. In doing this I come across the use of "boffin" more often than not, from websites like
the Register, which is nominally a tech page with some general science aswell. A quick Google search of the word boffin brings up plenty of boffin science articles.
What this boils down to for me is the juvenile way Science is reported, Boffin is a British slang word after all and has no place in the reporting of serious Science in my opinion. It belittles it and just shows the extreme laziness of the 'science' section of that particular media source. It also seems that Scientist's have no names they are either boffin's or scientist's and their name is irrelevant in the reporting of the work they have done. I want to know their names, don't you?
Abit of further reading on Tabloid Language if your interested is this
article from the Independent.
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