Struggling with the whole 'language' thing...

[brummyjon]

No, I don't mean English!

It's easy on here, I think, as people will generally have preferences for using the terms 'PV', Vaporiser, E-cig, technotoke (did I just make that one up?), or whatever, but at least realise that people are talking about loosely the same thing.

When speaking to others (the relatively unititiated) , I still don't feel that the vocabulary comes easily to me yet, and by profession, I am in the business of communication. I also consider myself a little bit of a liguist, so it is a source of some frustration at the moment.

I have started to call my e-cig my 'vape' (like I called my cigarettes my 'smokes' I suppose). Does anyone else call them this?

My problem with other terms (at the moment - but this may change) are, broadly:

E-cig/E-cigarette - it's not a cigarette
Vapouriser - sounds like something medical. Or maybe something off Star Trek.
VP - too esoteric, too trendy. This will definitely need explaining more often than it is understood.
vape - at least it's short, and reasonably decriptive.
Technotoke - maybe this is the way to go...

I'm sure I've missed some out.

I am, however, starting to become less self-conscious about referring to my new 'habit' as 'vaping', mainly thanks to this forum.

 

[Roxxette]

Just call it a muffler

 

[brummyjon]

hahaha..... muffler I like...

 

[TonyTT]

I know when someone asks me what "that" is, and I think they'll automatically get a negative vibe if I call it an electronic-cigarette, I'll call it an e-cig, and if not, sometimes I'll call it a nicotine inhaler. I don't like using the word cig, because for some reason with some people, they just latch onto the cigarette part, but if you say inhaler, they automatically, "oh, cessation tool, good for you"

 

[TonyTT]

other's, I just tell em it's my taser

 

[brummyjon]

Nicotine inhaler.. yes, I knew I'd missed an obvious one...!

 

[brummyjon]

other's, I just tell em it's my taser

YEs, but I keep my taser in my other pocket...

 

[sailorman]

I too am a bit of a linguist. I despise the term e-cigarette, as you can tell by my sig line.

I'm only a little more comfortable with the term "personal vaporizer" or PV. That conjures up images of sickly children or decrepitude.
I prefer something without the negative connotations associated with cigarettes, something vaguely hi-tech, something neutral, yet roughly accurate. Something that elicits further questions without immediately evoking preconceptions planted by the FDA and the disinformation campaign of the ANTZ.

To the uninitiated, I refer to it as my "atomizer".

I consider this roughly analogous to referring to a car as a "my motor" or my computer as my CPU.
Not 100% accurate, but it's the vital component of the whole.

I hate using the term dreamed up by marketing weasels to sell PVs to smokers. They had no idea of the impact it would have on the general public's attitude toward the product. They probably wouldn't have cared anyway, as long as it attracted smokers to buy their product. I use the term e-cig here only because I figure I'm among friends, but I try my best never to slip up and use it in public.

 

[brummyjon]

I too am a bit of a linguist. I despise the term e-cigarette, as you can tell by my sig line.

I'm only a little more comfortable with the term "personal vaporizer" or PV. That conjures up images of sickly children or decrepitude.
I have taken to calling it something without the negative connotations associated with cigarettes, something vaguely hi-tech, something neutral, yet roughly accurate. Something that elicits further questions without immediately evoking preconceptions planted by the FDA and the disinformation campaign of the ANTZ.
To the uninitiated, I refer to it as my "atomizer".
I consider it roughly analogous to referring to a car as a "my motor"
It's the vital component of the whole.

I hate using the term dreamed up by marketing weasels to sell PVs to smokers. They had no idea of the impact it would have on the general public's attitude toward the product. They probably wouldn't have cared anyway, as long as it attracted smokers to buy their product. I use the term e-cig here only because I figure I'm among friends, but I try my best never to slip up and use it in public.

Hi Sailorman.. I did actually see your sig line when browsing the forum previously, and tend to concur. One reaction I had recently was someone saying to me 'all you have to do now is get your self off THAT..' This perception can't be helped by people thinking it's just like a ... with a circuitboard. (For our American chums, a ... is simply THE most common way of referring to a cigarette in the UK, and has NO connotations of sexuality..lol)

 

[sailorman]

Hi Sailorman.. I did actually see your sig line when browsing the forum previously, and tend to concur. One reaction I had recently was someone saying to me 'all you have to do now is get your self off THAT..' This perception can't be helped by people thinking it's just like a ... with a circuitboard. (For our American chums, a ... is simply THE most common way of referring to a cigarette in the UK, and has NO connotations of sexuality..lol)

Makes me wish I was British. ... is so much easier to type than cigarette.

I've told people that it contains a medicine to prevent my urge to smoke. I wouldn't tell a smoker that, but nobody else ever asked just what the medicine was. I've used the "medical device" ruse a couple times to overtly hostile inquirers. It works every time. Nobody wants to be perceived as prying into your medical conditions, LOL..

 

[sailorman]

Hi Sailorman.. I did actually see your sig line when browsing the forum previously, and tend to concur. One reaction I had recently was someone saying to me 'all you have to do now is get your self off THAT..' This perception can't be helped by people thinking it's just like a ... with a circuitboard. (For our American chums, a ... is simply THE most common way of referring to a cigarette in the UK, and has NO connotations of sexuality..lol)

Makes me wish I was British. ... is so much easier to type than cigarette.

I've told people that it contains a medicine to prevent my urge to smoke. I wouldn't tell a smoker that, but nobody else ever asked just what the medicine was. I've used the "medical device" ruse a couple times to overtly hostile inquirers. It works every time. Nobody wants to be perceived as prying into your medical conditions, LOL..

 

[brummyjon]

Yes, but cigarette is quicker to type than '...' followed by '(For our American chums, a ... is simply THE most common way of referring to a cigarette in the UK, and has NO connotations of sexuality..lol)'

Because I know that there are so many Americans on here, it makes it difficult for us British to use the word that most of us use quite naturally. On the other side of the coin, we Brits think your 'fanny pack' is HILARIOUS!

 

[yzer]

It cracks me up.

Analog: a cigarette. We can hurt cigarettes and show our disdain for them by calling them "analogs." Not that a heated coil is a digital device... Oh, well.

Cone: a muffler and heat sink for a well-functioning carto. A cone is a cosmetic thing, like big fenders on a 1960 Cadillac. Yeah, sure.

Juice: E-liquid. Even if it's made in somebody's garage, kitchen or old .... lab, juice just sounds a lot healthier than E-liquid.

Throat hit (TH): Something somebody bigger, stronger and hairier than you likes more than you do.

AW batteries: Something God made to power APVs. You can't find or afford them.

Variable Voltage (VV): If you can't understand how the resistance of a atomizer device relates to available amperage from a battery, them VV is for you. Coming soon to an E-Cig vendor near you: VV/VR (variable voltage, variable resistance APVs). Wait for it.

Highest possible voltage APVs: These will vape anything from nicotine to your grandmother's cremated remains. Enjoy.

EMSS approved E-cigarettes: never mind...

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

It all depends on the person I'm speaking to. The more close minded I refer to it as an Ecig while the open minded are told it's a Personal Vaporizer. Close/ open minded has nothing to do with the age of the person I'm conversing with. For myself I just call it my ND- Nic Dispenser cuz in the simplest of terms that's exactly what it is.

 

[DaveP]

I still refer to it as my ecig. All the people I come into contact with know that it supplies only the nicotine and the flavor, so it's a positive connotation. They get the standard explanation of how it works and the analogy of vaporization.

 

[the_vape_nerd]

Yes, but cigarette is quicker to type than '...' followed by '(For our American chums, a ... is simply THE most common way of referring to a cigarette in the UK, and has NO connotations of sexuality..lol)'

Because I know that there are so many Americans on here, it makes it difficult for us British to use the word that most of us use quite naturally. On the other side of the coin, we Brits think your 'fanny pack' is HILARIOUS!

Ha, last time I was in London that whole fanny pack thing came up. Completely taken by surprise. Was on a tour bus and the guide there was clueing all the UK folks in on americans call it that. There was riotous laughter.

Anyhow, I don't believe there's any point in changing the term from e-cig to pv. PV to me just sounds silly. Any obvious attempt at propaganda by lexicon. There's been a blog maybe, written by the famous rolygate on why we should continue to use the term "e-cig". I wholeheartedly agree with him. The community needs critical mass for lobbying efforts. I hope it can get as big as the NRA one day.

 

[jtpjc]

I always call it my fake cigarette. For some reason everybody immediately knows what that is and stops asking questions. I usually add "See this smoke? It's fake." But by then they have already lost all interest.

 

[Trill]

I am going to call mine my lightsaber, and explain that it helped me fight the Dark Side of tobacco.

 

[almostfunctional]

My pacifier

 

[NancyR]

Yes, but cigarette is quicker to type than '...' followed by '(For our American chums, a ... is simply THE most common way of referring to a cigarette in the UK, and has NO connotations of sexuality..lol)'

Because I know that there are so many Americans on here, it makes it difficult for us British to use the word that most of us use quite naturally. On the other side of the coin, we Brits think your 'fanny pack' is HILARIOUS!

lol How well I understand you with that, while I am an American, I have been in online chat programs for well over 10 years now and a lot of my good friends are in the UK. That first year I played hell with understanding them and I am sure they did with me too.

... tho is a term a lot of Americans know as meaning a cig over there, the biggest one that caught me was "filling them in", had told one friend one day I would fill the others in when they came on, he asked me why I was gonna kill them lol.