A clipping of weblog, dating from 1998. Weblog itself is attested in 1994, though not in the sense of an online journal.

The sound of the word blog is noisome — it calls to mind bog, frog, hog, dog, fog, grog, blob, blot, and soggy. It gives the impression of something rather… messy. It’s remarkable that something which physically consists only of patterns in electronic memory should be described with a word that suggests so strongly earth, water, and the life that thrives there where they mingle.

Blog begins with a burst of Source-energy that fills all available space. The result is represented by “g” — a sound that means something like a container that is filled with void and yet is the ultimate grounding of everything. Blog and words similar to it — these “messy” words — are, I suspect, words of chaos: the chaos that is also the Source. A bog may be a big mess, but it is also teeming with life and possibility. A blog is quite similar, but note that the addition of the “l”, indicating its liquid, light-like qualities, hinting at its electronic nature and semi-universal availability.

Obviously this neat match between sound and meaning wasn’t devised by the fellow who clipped weblog into blog nine years ago. The way in which the universe contrives to build these “coincidences” never ceases to amaze me.

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