[Ads-l] "fracking"

[Dan Goncharoff]

And yet, "mike" for microphone has become "mic".

On Sun, Aug 9, 2020, 5:23 PM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com> wrote:

> The word didn't originate with activists but within the industry, which the
> discussion doesn't mention until the 20th paragraph:
> >>>>>
> The drilling industry has generally spelled the word without a "K," using
> terms like "frac job" or "frac fluid."
> <<<<<
>
> But the spelling "frack" is not novel. Again from the article:
> >>>>>
> The spelling of "fracking" began appearing in the media and in oil and
> gas company
> materials long before the process became controversial. It first was used
> in an Associated Press story in 1981. That same year, an oil and gas
> company called Velvet Exploration, based in British Columbia, issued a
> press
> release that detailed its plans to complete "fracking" a well.
>
> The word was used in trade journals throughout the 1980s. In 1990, Commerce
> Secretary Robert Mosbacher announced U.S. oil engineers would travel to the
> Soviet Union to share drilling technology, including fracking.
> <<<<<
>
> The addition of "k" was probably prompted by the rarity of non-Latinate
> English monosyllables ending in vowel+"c" – as opposed to " crack, back,
> lack, sack, Jack" and a myriad more –  combined with the awkwardness of
> "fraccing" as well as "fracced". Its spread in the protest movement,
> though, is certainly attributable to the reasons cited by the writer.
>
> Mark A. Mandel
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 7, 2020, 2:13 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Amazon reviewer, 2012:
> >
> > "This mission was fracked up when the ambush jumped."
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 9:11 PM James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at netscape.com
> >
> > <
> > JJJRLandau at netscape.com> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       "James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at netscape.com>"
> > >               <JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM>
> > > Subject:      "fracking"
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > For anybody on the list who would like to start a barfight...
> > >
> > > (I am not taking sides.  There are serious environmental problems with
> > > fracking; whether the natural gas industry will overcome these
> problems I
> > > cannot predict.)
> > >
> > > from
> > >
> >
> http://channels.isp.netscape.com/pf/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/1001/20120126/1739.htm
> > >
> > > No energy industry backing for the word 'fracking'
> > > JONATHAN FAHEY
> > > AP Energy Writer
> > >
> > >
> > > NEW YORK (AP) — A different kind of F-word is stirring a linguistic and
> > > political debate as controversial as what it defines.
> > >
> > > The word is "fracking" — as in hydraulic fracturing, a technique long
> > used
> > > by the oil and gas industry to free oil and gas from rock.
> > >
> > > It's not in the dictionary, the industry hates it, and President Barack
> > > Obama didn't use it in his State of the Union speech — even as he
> praised
> > > federal subsidies for it.
> > >
> > > The word sounds nasty, and environmental advocates have been able to
> use
> > > it to generate opposition — and revulsion — to what they say is a nasty
> > > process that threatens water supplies.
> > >
> > > "It obviously calls to mind other less socially polite terms, and folks
> > > have been able to take advantage of that," said Kate Sinding, a senior
> > > attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council who works on drilling
> > > issues.
> > >
> > > One of the chants at an anti-drilling rally in Albany earlier this
> month
> > > was "No fracking way!"
> > >
> > > Industry executives argue that the word is deliberately misspelled by
> > > environmental activists and that it has become a slur that should not
> be
> > > used by media outlets that strive for objectivity.
> > >
> > > "It's a co-opted word and a co-opted spelling used to make it look as
> > > offensive as people can try to make it look," said Michael Kehs, vice
> > > president for Strategic Affairs at Chesapeake Energy, the nation's
> > > second-largest natural gas producer.
> > >
> > > To the surviving humans of the sci-fi TV series "Battlestar Galactica,"
> > it
> > > has nothing to do with oil and gas. It is used as a substitute for the
> > very
> > > down-to-Earth curse word.
> > >
> > > Michael Weiss, a professor of linguistics at Cornell University, says
> the
> > > word originated as simple industry jargon, but has taken on a negative
> > > meaning over time — much like the word "silly" once meant "holy."
> > >
> > > But "frack" also happens to sound like "smack" and "whack," with more
> > > violent connotations.
> > >
> > > "When you hear the word 'fracking,' what lights up your brain is the
> > > profanity," says Deborah Mitchell, who teaches marketing at the
> > University
> > > of Wisconsin's School of Business. "Negative things come to mind."
> > >
> > > Obama did not use the word in his State of the Union address Tuesday
> > > night, when he said his administration will help ensure natural gas
> will
> > be
> > > developed safely, suggesting it would support 600,000 jobs by the end
> of
> > > the decade.
> > >
> > > In hydraulic fracturing, millions of gallons of water, sand and
> chemicals
> > > are pumped into wells to break up underground rock formations and
> create
> > > escape routes for the oil and gas. In recent years, the industry has
> > > learned to combine the practice with the ability to drill horizontally
> > into
> > > beds of shale, layers of fine-grained rock that in some cases have
> > trapped
> > > ancient organic matter that has cooked into oil and gas.
> > >
> > > By doing so, drillers have unlocked natural gas deposits across the
> East,
> > > South and Midwest that are large enough to supply the U.S. for decades.
> > > Natural gas prices have dipped to decade-low levels, reducing customer
> > > bills and prompting manufacturers who depend on the fuel to expand
> > > operations in the U.S.
> > >
> > > Environmentalists worry that the fluid could leak into water supplies
> > from
> > > cracked casings in wells. They are also concerned that wastewater from
> > the
> > > process could contaminate water supplies if not properly treated or
> > > disposed of. And they worry the method allows too much methane, the
> main
> > > component of natural gas and an extraordinarily potent greenhouse gas,
> to
> > > escape.
> > >
> > > Some want to ban the practice altogether, while others want tighter
> > > regulations.
> > >
> > > The Environmental Protection Agency is studying the issue and may
> propose
> > > federal regulations. The industry prefers that states regulate the
> > process.
> > >
> > > Some states have banned it. A New York proposal to lift its ban drew
> > about
> > > 40,000 public comments — an unprecedented total — inspired in part by
> > > slogans such as "Don't Frack With New York."
> > >
> > > The drilling industry has generally spelled the word without a "K,"
> using
> > > terms like "frac job" or "frac fluid."
> > >
> > > Energy historian Daniel Yergin spells it "fraccing" in his book, "The
> > > Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World." The
> > glossary
> > > maintained by the oilfield services company Schlumberger includes only
> > > "frac" and "hydraulic fracturing."
> > >
> > > The spelling of "fracking" began appearing in the media and in oil and
> > gas
> > > company materials long before the process became controversial. It
> first
> > > was used in an Associated Press story in 1981. That same year, an oil
> and
> > > gas company called Velvet Exploration, based in British Columbia,
> issued
> > a
> > > press release that detailed its plans to complete "fracking" a well.
> > >
> > > The word was used in trade journals throughout the 1980s. In 1990,
> > > Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher announced U.S. oil engineers would
> > > travel to the Soviet Union to share drilling technology, including
> > fracking.
> > >
> > > The word does not appear in The Associated Press Stylebook, a guide for
> > > news organizations. David Minthorn, deputy standards editor at the AP,
> > says
> > > there are tentative plans to include an entry in the 2012 edition.
> > >
> > > He said the current standard is to avoid using the word except in
> direct
> > > quotes, and to instead use "hydraulic fracturing."
> > >
> > > That won't stop activists — sometimes called "fracktivists" — from
> > > repeating the word as often as possible.
> > >
> > > "It was created by the industry, and the industry is going to have to
> > live
> > > with it," says the NRDC's Sinding.
> > >
> > > Dave McCurdy, CEO of the American Gas Association, agrees, much to his
> > > dismay: "It's Madison Avenue hell," he says.
> > >
> > > ___
> > >
> > > Jonathan Fahey can be reached at http://twitter.com/JonathanFahey.
> > >
> > >
> > > _____________________________________________________________
> > > Netscape.  Just the Net You Need.
> > >
> >
> ...
>
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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> >
>
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