1. notleia says:

    Well, there is such thing as creative accounting — as a euphemism.

    I think “creative” is supposed to be a catchall term, and in my experience most people use it because they do different types of creative stuff, like writing AND knitting AND baking. “Fiber arts” is a catchall term for everything from crochet to embroidery to felting — sometimes sewing, but that’s generally got its own categories like “fashion” or “costumery.”

    Or if you take “creative” to mean “I create/make stuff” rather than the more common definition of “I create new stuff,” that includes stuff like gardening and canning and DIY.

    Language is fluid, so the way words are used (the “descriptive” approach) is also a valid way to treat language.

    • Just to make this even more fun, I was listening to an indie author podcast once, and they said it would be good to get a creative accountant. They quickly clarified that the type of creative accountant they were talking about was one that knew how to handle accounting for businesses that centered around creative things. Basically, accountants that know how to serve indie authors, musicians, actors, whatever.

    • Notleia, stop saying things I agree with. We’re not supposed to agree. 🙂 Joking, of course. In all seriousness, totally agree with the fluidity of language, and that it’s perfectly valid to use language that way. That’s what makes grammar nazi’s such insolent jerks. Yes, grammar matters, but many times grammar nazis get their undies in a wad over stuff that DOESN’T matter. Or when something is “grammatically incorrect” yet much more useful for communicating intended meaning.

      Like a line in a song I heard recently about Opioid abuse. “Don’t you know me by these scars where I are? I mean I am, I mean I was! . . . I was supposed to be someone.”

      But this post brings up great points. And I also get a little irritated when I constantly hear YouTubers self-identify as “creators.” I get it, but when they use it as if that’s an exclusive term to them, it’s irritating. Especially when the “creator” is hardly adding value to the universe.

  2. Interesting thoughts, Shannon. I maintain that we are all creatives because we’re made in God’s image, but we don’t always recognize our own creativity because of the narrow definitions attached to the label. Anyway, good things to think about here.

    Becky

  3. I don’t really mind the ambiguity, etc. around the term ‘creative’. As notleia pointed out, it can actually be pretty useful when needing to refer to, say, people that have multiple artistic skills.

    Artist is kind of a weird term for me, because on one hand it is a catch all phrase that still includes things like writing and music. At the same time, I’ll still do things like say ‘I’m an artist and a writer’, meaning that I draw visual media like sketches and animations along with writing. But I in no way exclude writing and music from the artistic label.

    And really, that’s ok, so long as people are willing to hear me out as far as what I mean. If they immediately take offense(Hey, music is art too!) and aren’t willing to understand that the word art can be used in multiple ways, then that would be a problem. Though that’s more about people’s reaction than the actual word usage.

    Ambiguity in words and language is actually very awesome for writers, comedians, etc. because that can be a tool for making things poetic, funny or deep. People just need to be willing to understand what speakers/writers actually mean and allow for clarification where needed.

What do you think?