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Is "Sona" an Overused Abbreviation by Social Cliques?

5/5/2015

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Papabear,

Is the word "sona" being overused or loosely said?

Lets look at the Oxford Dictionary (The dictionary for cool people)

noun (plural personas or personae-ˈsōnē)
1 The aspect of someone’s character that is presented to or perceived by others: her public persona

Sona is an abbreviation for persona so why is it necessary to have multiple sonas to identify a type of thing your interested in? Is that sort of like a High School cliques that people in fandoms join because they are not in a high school clique.

Ex: 

Pokesona tend to talk to other pokemon fans mostly
Wowsonas chill with the alliance or horde
Bronysonas gallop together 

Yet they don't talk to each other because there is no similar interest excluding other fandoms from joining theirs. Has the word "sona" lost its meaning and is the NEW high school clique of fandoms?

Kim the "Pancham"

* * * 

Hi, Kim,

I love the idea of the OED being “the dictionary for cool people.” That one made me grin. It sounds like you’re asking two different things: is the abbreviation “sona” overused, and are people forming too many cliques to avoid interacting with others who don’t share their interests?

Whether or not “sona” is overused is a matter of personal opinion. People have a way of latching on to words or phrases they think are cute, original, or cool and then using them to death until they become clichéd and boring. Many examples: aight, fershizzle, fail, amazeballs, hashtag, selfie, dude, ’sup, twerking etc. etc. Overuse of such words—and this might be insulting to some, sorry—is evidence of unoriginal and lazy thinking. I suppose the same thing may be said for “sona.”

As for cliques, yes, certainly young people gravitate toward them, and one reason some people associate with furries, bronies, and other groups is that they felt rejected in school and are now happy to be part of a community. It is often interesting to me that the very people who once complained of being excluded from a society become, themselves, exclusionary, rejecting people who want to join with lame accusations such as “you’re not a real furry.” Whatevah!

Cliques are a double-edged sword. On the one paw, they can give comfort to members of the clique by providing them with validation and a surrogate family; on the other, they can become elitist and hurtful to those who are outside their little community.

After decades of trying to belong somewhere, this bear has given up on the idea of being part of a group. Too much rejection, too much drama, don’t need it. Instead, I deal with people—furries and mundanes alike—on an individual basis and have found that formula to work much better.

In conclusion, “sona” has not lost its meaning, but it has become cliché, and, yes, there are many cliques out there, but they are nothing new, whether you add –sona to the end of the name or not. It’s just human nature to, like birds, flock together.

Cheers,

Papabear
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