Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Cheese and Browsers




Today the phrase "surfing the web" is understood by most people to simply mean "reviewing the range of content that is available on the Internet via the use of a web browser" such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. However, since language evolves quickly especially as a result of someone's geographic location/isolation there are no doubt other ways to say "surfing the web" which I was reminded of on my flight to Brussels this weekend.

While enjoying some downtime at the airport sky lounge I read this phrase on the packet of cheese I was having:

"SKI us on the web: cabotcheese.com"


"Ski" don't "surf" this Vermont cheese company's website -- a great example of "place theory" in practice since "ski the web" is a product of Vermont's ski slope culture and the lack of opportunities to "surf" the ocean such as California offers :)

A personal reminder to myself to not assume we speak the same "language" known as English in all settings.

Thank you for skiing Space Beagle,

Todd

1 comment:

Jeff Deitering said...

Therefore those of us who hail from Iowa must plow the web.