ALTDEF

Alternative definitions for words in the news of today.

CONTENT (n.)

Once upon a time: Derived from the Latin contentus, meaning satisfied, at peace, in possession of enough.

Now: A file type. A filler. Something to scroll past.

It no longer refers to a state of inner sufficiency, but to a deliverable.

“When did information, images, and video overtake the adjectival, descriptive meaning of content?

To be content once meant to be in a state of peaceful happiness, to be satisfied.

Now content has become a noun and devolved into a commodity—mass-produced, algorithmically sliced, and offered up without context, connection, or grace.”

—Anna Graham, Language, Word Games, and Puzzles Correspondent

Council-of-Concerned-Conservationists Newsletter

And so, in our effort to reclaim the lost meaning of content—to rescue it from its captivity in the feed—we are pleased to inaugurate the:

C-of-C-C Newsletter CONTENT-OF-THE-DAY

A feature not of distraction, but of restoration.

Today’s Content:

“Wide Open Spaces” by the Dixie Chicks

A melody that, like its title, opens outward.

It reminds us that to be content is not to be stuffed full, but to be spacious within.

Literal wide open spaces and vistas do the same.

Filed under: Words We’ve Lost & Are Trying to Win Back

See also:

– Algorithmic stuffing

– “Binge-worthy” as a euphemism for spiritual collapse

– The adjective formerly known as content

Cross-referenced by: The Department of Emotional Semiotics & Sonic Healing, and Anna Graham’s personal glossary: Things That Still Work