Hi, everyone. Last week I asked my students to write about the merits and demerits of ebooks and physical books telling about their personal preferences. One of my students came up with this title for her composition: E-book--Darling of the 21st Century. I doubted the use of "darling" in this title, so I went to my Oxford dictionary and got the following explanation: The darling of somebody or something is a person who is especially liked and very popular. Here's a contradiction: ebook is not a person. Do you think "darling" can be used in this figurative way to draw attention from the reader? Thanks. Richard
Yes it can be used that way. I think it definitely draws the reader in it because it's intriguing to think of an e-book as something precious. ~Lynn
Seconding the previous poster- I've seen movies, books and concepts referred to as "the darling of..." before.
Because google sucks the soul out of people? I dunno.. I just know google is not good for everything. >< Or my car would be fixed by now.
I often encounter the word 'darling' when speaking to folks from the south somewhere. They seem to use is like: "Oh just look at these darling earrings on that girl." Seems to happen all the time. I wouldn't even blink if I saw that headline 'Darling of...' So does this count as thirded or fourthed? Just wondering...
it's called personification, it's when you make an inanimate object and relate it to a person. By calling an e-book darling it's a creative method of literary personification, in my opinion.
OMG I got a third, a fourth, and a FIFTH. I think I might faint And since I'm actually from the South, I read this question and was like, "Yep, heard that before." People here love to use the term darling to describe something other than a person. "Darling earrings, darling purse, etc." It's nearly always something feminine in origin, but hey--it's still personification. And hey, I got FIFTHED!!! ~Lynn