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27 November 2007

VocabFilter: What does "salient point" mean and in what contexts is it used?→[More:]
The way my vocab works is that when I'm writing something, all of a sudden a word will pop into my head to be used. Oftentimes the word or phrase is one that isn't commonly used, and I won't be 100% certain that the word means what I think it means, so I like to double check and look it up (I'm not sure how writing/vocab work for others, which is why I'm taking the time to explain. Apologies if I'm not a special snowflake and am over-explaining :P).

One reoccurring phrase, one that pops into my head enough to make it notable, is "salient point." I keep wanting to use that phrase apparently, as in "you've made several salient points," but when I look up the word "salient" I can't be sure that it makes any sense whatsoever. So, I figured I'd ask you. What does the phrase mean, and in what contexts would it be used?

And a third subquestion: is this similar to what you experience when writing things? Now I'm curious. When writing, and not even searching for a word, do words just pop into your head? Words whose meaning you sometimes could not define on the spot, but you're sure they mean what you're trying to communicate and you know how to use them properly in a sentence? I've been told I use "large words," but I can't always break those words down into more commonly used synonyms. I blame all the books I read as a kid.

I also get words "stuck in my head," in much the same way one can get a song stuck in one's head. I had a large vocabulary for a child, I'm told, but as I get older I find that my vocabulary gets less and less unique, which is actually quite welcoming.

There's my ramble for the day.

post by: CitrusFreak12 at: 10:52 | 24 comments

I think of "salient points" as nuggety treasures of goodness or exactitude in an argument (where "argument" means a construct of evidence, not a fistfight).

I used to really dig the phrase "salient point" before the days of rampant self-congratulatory marketing-speak. Then it got ruined for me by one of those assbaskety manager types at a job who thought overusing it in meaningless presentations made him appear smarter. It didn't.

And yes, I do all of the above. Especially getting words stuck in my head.

CF sometimes you sound so much like me at that age I wonder if we're related in any way.

posted by lonefrontranger 27 November | 10:58

Does it have something to do with fake boobies?

posted by birdherder 27 November | 11:00

Hey CitrusFreak, you said you've looked up salient? Like, on dictionary.com? It has a reasonable definition. If I say "salient point" I mean it is particularly relevant or germane to the conversation. I think "important, prominent" pretty much covers that.

I get words stuck in my head as well. For the last 8 or 9 years? "seminiferous tubules" Came from teaching reproductive histology throughout graduate school.

posted by gaspode 27 November | 11:02

Salient means prominent. Something that jumps out at you.

posted by jrossi4r 27 November | 11:02

"Salient point" is often used in academic discourse - I first started using it during my Intro. to Ethnography course, which was primarily reading and discussion. It makes sense if you look at its synonyms: "important; striking, remarkable."

I have the same problem, where I'll think of a word and not know if it's the correct one to use in a situation.

posted by muddgirl 27 November | 11:03

Yeah, usually when people say 'salient points' it doesn't just mean the good or clever ones; rather, they are the key, or most important ones. So, if you were summarising an article, you'd "include the salient points", because you're trying to retain as much of the core meaning/argument as possible.

posted by chrismear 27 November | 11:03

Ha, pode! For me it was "seminal vesicles."

posted by jrossi4r 27 November | 11:04

Another one from my college days: "Inform" - this one came from a media studies class I took. Everything informs everything else, it seems.

posted by muddgirl 27 November | 11:05

Ha! Male reproductive system geeks unite, jrossi!

posted by gaspode 27 November | 11:07

I just had to look up "livid", because I've always thought of it as "angry", of course... but in color terms, it could be something like "bruised", or else red; but neither of those really seemed to fit the way the word was used in this comment. And what do you know? It also means "ashen". So basically, "livid" can be red, white or blue. *hums the Star 'Spangled Banner'*

Yes, I have lots of words that pop into my head, and I'm sure they are right for the phrase although I've never learned them by specifically looking them up. It turns out I am almost always right, which is just a happy by-product of being a big reader, I figure.

posted by taz 27 November | 11:41

which is just a happy by-product of being a big reader,

One of the downside to that, though, is that I often mispronounce things because I've only ever seen them written.

posted by jrossi4r 27 November | 11:45

Heh. I'm pretty good with that... though I must say that I'm way down the rabbit hole on pronunciations of all kinds of U.S. popular culture stuff that I only see on the internet. It took me several years to find out how U.S. people pronounce "Ikea", because here it's pronounced "eeKAYa". I still don't know how the Swedes pronounce it.

posted by taz 27 November | 11:51

Woo! I'm not a special snowflake but I'm not a weirdo either! Thanks for the help all, and good to know I'm not alone.

One of the downside to that, though, is that I often mispronounce things because I've only ever seen them written.
I hate that! It can be so hard to break the habit too.

posted by CitrusFreak12 27 November | 12:03

I often mispronounce things because I've only ever seen them written.

Thirding that. I had a great English teacher who had a useful saying: "Pronunciation is the bane of the self-educated."

posted by Miko 27 November | 12:18

Another word salient to this discussion, gaspode, and jrossi4r, is seminal.
See, because one meaning is "relating to semen" and another is "creative or original"... ah nevermind.

posted by Joe Invisible 27 November | 12:28

you hear the term "salient issues" a lot in political science classes, and it's usually used to describe the "meat and potatoes" issues in a candidate's platform and subsequent debates.

in this case "salient" retains the root definition "important", but also implies "complicated" - problems that could take years to fix, and that compromised "band-aid solutions" would only complicate further over time (the "donut hole" in medicare part d is a good recent example of this). however, most of the time "salient issue" is used as a fancy synonym for "wedge issue" - i.e., hot-button issues such as civil rights, the environment, reproductive freedom, taxation, defense, government waste, etc., the very stuff that attack ads and scare-tactic mailers are made of.

(to paraphrase the late, great mitch hedberg, political campaigns are a lot like pancakes - exciting at first, but near the end you're fucking sick of 'em.)

posted by syntax 27 November | 12:33

Thank you Joe. Once again you've provided the group with seminal material.

posted by MonkeyButter 27 November | 12:34

I use "salient points" quite a lot at work. "Mr XXX has made very detailed submissions in support of his case, which I confirm I have read and considered carefully. I trust he will not consider it a discourtesy if I do not reply in similar detail. Instead I will summarise his evidence, emphasising only the salient points..."

posted by essexjan 27 November | 12:34

German speakers say OY-ro instead of YOU-ro.

posted by brujita 27 November | 12:35

Does it have something to do with fake boobies?

Well, sort of. Salient literally means "rises quickly," "pointing outward," "prominent, striking," and "starting point," but you could argue that the fake boobies are second base.

posted by StickyCarpet 27 November | 12:58

Sounds like things are at a categorical resolution here, so I'll relocate along.

posted by Hellbient 27 November | 13:52

CF: uh, this happens to me all the time, but I'm an English teacher in a school full of non-native English-speaker teachers, so it's reeeeeally noticeable and bothers people.

The other day a native-speaker colleague and I had a discussion about the difference between apogee and zenith, and last week I pulled lagniappe out of nowhere.

The non-native speakers and I get on really well because they don't see the way I speak - which is basically uncontrollable to me - as a threat, but the native speakers find it intimidating, like we're all supposed to be verbose and literary. Furthermore, being from southern California, my informal speech is peppered with "prolly" and "like" and "totally" in all sorts of interesting places, but then out comes a word like concomitant.

Glad you found your word.

posted by mdonley 27 November | 16:31

Yes, I have lots of words that pop into my head, and I'm sure they are right for the phrase although I've never learned them by specifically looking them up. It turns out I am almost always right, which is just a happy by-product of being a big reader, I figure.

Same here.

One of the downside to that, though, is that I often mispronounce things because I've only ever seen them written.

And again. I still think "mizzled" when I see "misled". Argh.

"Pronunciation is the bane of the self-educated."

So very true!

posted by deborah 27 November | 23:14

hee! I had the mizzled thing, too. It really should be "mizzled". Really.

posted by taz 28 November | 02:16

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