Have you ever left a gathering without saying goodbye? If
so, then you have “ghosted” – in a different sense, of course, than that of ghosting
student essays and articles, or writing for others. What caused me to reflect
on the different senses of the word was a recent article by Seth Stevenson in
Slate magazine, entitled “Don’t Say Goodbye, Just Ghost”.
Stevenson argues that while party hosts might appreciate the
politeness of guests bidding them farewell before leaving, it might be
impractical and time consuming for everyone to do this at a large gathering.
His advice is to “just ghost”, though admitting that the act of suddenly
disappearing from a group might have been frowned upon in the past, as
evidenced from “ethnophobic” synonyms such as “the Irish goodbye”, “the French
exit” (French leave) or the less commonly known “Dutch leave”. Clearly, as a semantic choice, “ghosting” is a
milder alternative to “Irish goodbye”, with its negative connotations of
inconsiderateness and rudeness. It is also less culture-laden than the “French exit”,
which ironically translates into “filer à l’anglaise”, leaving the English way.
Perhaps the fact that a ghost is colourless (and cultureless) helps.
What other meanings are there for the word “ghost”? A good
dictionary will provide several possible senses for the noun, with meanings
ranging from that of a soul in general to the soul of a dead person, to the
Holy Ghost, to a demon, to that of a red blood cell without haemoglobin, in medicine. There
is also the sense of a trace or memory of something, or a false image on a
photographic film or screen. Additionally, the term may refer to a fictitious employee, business, or publication listed in a bibliography. The verb “ghost” appears as both transitive and
intransitive, in multiple senses including that of “ghost write”, haunt, and move
silently like a ghost. Idioms include "pale as a ghost"; to “give up the ghost”, meaning to stop
trying or - euphemistically - to die (also used humorously in relation to machines); to “look like you’ve
seen a ghost”, in the context of fear; “not have the ghost of a
chance”, meaning to not have any chance at all, and "the ghost at the feast", that is, someone who spoils your enjoyment by constantly reminding you of something unpleasant.
In computing terminology, the term has multiple senses. Ghost computers and ghost web sites are used by hackers and phishers respectively, and ghost imaging clones the software on one computer for other computers, using ghosting software. In drug slang, the word may apparently refer to LSD or cocaine.
Enough of this word! Let us lay the ghost of this subject to rest.
