Is the Word "Bigfoot" Losing its Definition?

When Google became a verb it was a good thing for Google. The same is true for many other brands that become so ubiquitous, it becomes an action or category. For example you can Xerox or FedEx a document, and Kleenex and Q-Tips are really brands for tissue and cotton swabs. Unfortunately I fear the same can not be said for Bigfoot.

First, there are a lot of things called Bigfoot, Sasquatch, or Yeti that are not Bigfoot, Sasquatch, or Yeti.

Allow our "Collage of Google Image Search Results for Bigfoot, Sasquatch or Yeti" to illustrate.



Don't worry, I don't have an issue if Bigfoot, Sasquatch or Yeti are used in popular culture, especially since all the pictures above are references to Bigfoot, Sasquatch or Yeti--Except for the two pictures that are literally big feet!

I'm concerned about something different. Going back to what I was saying in the beginning, when Google became a verb it was good for Google. We can't say the same with Bigfoot. The word "bigfoot" has become common vernacular for journalist and it has nothing to do with our favorite forest dwelller.

Recently the blog the Word Detective enlightens a reader on the history of this journalistic term.

...since about 1980, “bigfoot” has been used as slang among journalists to mean “a prominent or well-known columnist or political reporter,” i.e., a “celebrity” journalist. According to an explanation offered by William Safire (himself just such a “bigfoot”) back in 1985, the term was coined as a joke during the 1980 US presidential campaign, when Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Hedrick Smith of the New York Times appeared on the press plane with his injured foot encased in a large cast.

Once considered a compliment of sorts, the Word detective goes on to elaborate how the word "bigfoot" has evolved into more of a derogatory slang among journalist. To "bigfoot” is “to snatch a story away from a lower-ranking reporter. In this use, as a transitive verb, "bigfoot" is quickly expanding to a more general definition, “to throw one’s weight around” or “to bully,”

For us Bigfoot will always be, first and foremost, a capitalized noun--not to mention an elusive hirsute bipedal hominid that we hope the world will someday discover.

You can read the Word Detective's more detailed column about the journalistic version of "bigfoot" here.

For Your Consideration, Sylvanic Bigfoot Part 3

We announced when the Sylvanic video's first became available for purchase at Sylvanic.com

Then we shared what a German blogger thought of it.

Now we have a complete trilogy. Todd Standings has just a released a new YouTube video to reveal his "technique" for finding a colony of Bigfoot for the second time. It's a piece of animation illustrating a well-executed strategy to capture Bigfoot on film.

Before we get to the video we should note that Todd Standing's name is well-known to Bigfooters. We used the "Way back Machine" with the help of Mr Peabody and his boy Sherman to discover what kind of news Todd was making back in 2007.



In January of '07 Todd Standing was quite the buzz on the internet, claiming the same things he is claiming today; we found a colony of Bigfoot, we know how to track Bigfoot, etc...

Cryptomundo reported this quote from Todd in January '07

The knowledge that my team and I have gained from our experiences in Sylvanic has without a doubt made us the authority on Bigfoot. I know there are a lot of people that are going to be very angry with me for saying that, but from what I have seen already with the mindless chatter that is going on all over the web I don’t care. I know how to track these animals. I know how they have successfully evaded modern men and modern science.

Later that year Bigfoot Encounters reprints an article:

Standing claims to have found and studied a "Bigfoot domicile," or "a Sylvanic" -- an area in the forest that he's convinced a large group of the creatures were inhabiting. But where, exactly, is this domicile? Standing's not talking about that part. He says he wants to protect the beast and its territory

All right, so whats different now? The video's are available for sale and apparently they are not clear enough to stand on their own. I would say this video animation is more interesting than the actual Bigfoot footage. Without further ado.



L I N K S :
Visit Cryptomundo's Todd Standing post here.
Visit the full Todd Standings news article reprinted on Bigfoot Encounters here.
And of course visit Todd Standing's Sylvanic Bigfoot Site here.

Google Archives Weekly World News and Bigfoot Benefits

In Alexandria, Egypt, was probably the largest, and certainly the most famous, of the libraries of the ancient world. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic dynasty (305 BC to 30 BC), and functioned as a major center of scholarship.

Some have compared the modern day equivalent of Alexandria to the internet, but more specifically we have Google Books and they are archiving some of the greatest works of mankind. They are also archiving some the greatest supermarket weeklies of mankind. Including Weekly World News(WWN).

The WWN was launched in 1979 by publisher Generoso Pope as a means to continue using the black and white press that the higher-profile tabloid, The National Enquirer, no longer needed after it switched to color. WWN's highest circulation peaked at 1.2 million per issue. As the publication switched many hands it literally shrank into a mere insert in its competitors weekly, The Sun.

In October 2008, Bat Boy L.L.C., a company started by Neil McGinness, bought WWN. They have revamped the website and is considering printing it again as a standalone publication.

So how do we feel about WWN? Don't they make fun of Bigfoot? Don't they sensationalize Bigfoot falsities? Don't they raise Bigfoot awareness in popular culture? Yes, yes, and yes. It is for the third reason we are thankful for WWN.

While we believe in the seriousness of Bigfoot and protecting them as a species, we believe there is room for a light-hearted approach to the pop-culture phenomenon. We assume once we have generated interest, any intelligent person becomes enticed with the fountain of evidence. Besides who takes the Weekly World News Seriously?

Below you can enjoy Weekly World News covers with Bigfoot. You can visit Google Books complete archive of Weekly World News here.