Press The Plastic

Poken are often described as a “keychain accessory” and many people do hang them on their keyring. This means that you’ve always got your poken with you ready to high four, which is good. But personally I don’t do it.

Have you ever lost your keys? Or had them stolen? I have. What happens if a dishonest person gets their hands on your keys and your poken?

If they have a poken of their own then they could do the high four and view your contact details. If you’re like most people than that would at least include your full name, possibly phone number and other personal details. With a little research in the phone book it might well be enough to locate your address.

So now somebody has your keys and your address. That can’t be a Good Thing.

I wouldn’t put a nametag on my keyring – so why would I put a poken on it? Instead I have mine attached to something else I always carry with me – a portable bottle opener

Maybe I’m just being paranoid. What do you think?

Photo Credit: cote
(Creative Commons)

A pride of lions, a murder of crows, a scandal of politicians^*… poetic and sometimes bizarre collective nouns are some of the gems of the English language. So what’s the the collective noun for Poken?

In my last post I discussed the general usage of the word Poken and Bryan Guido Hassin kindly responded with a some additional examples. However the question of the collective noun remained open.

From a commercial viewpoint it could simply be a “box” or an “order”. Looking at the social aspect we might go for “gathering”. However none of those words really feel right.

A few of us discussed this over on Twitter recently. After bouncing various ideas around @tinyblob suggested punnet. This gained general approval and I think it definitely feels right, especially with its delicious strawberry association.

So that’s it: the collective noun for Poken is now a punnet of Poken.

At least on this blog.

* OK, I made that last one up!

“Poken” is a made up word (well, unless you’re Dutch in which case it’s the plural of pook). So naturally we wonder about the word’s grammatical characteristics and usage. Well, I do anyway. What’s the plural? Can it be used as a verb? Transitive or intransitive?

In the case of Poken the answer, according to Stephane Doutriaux, is simple: Yes.

Poken, he says, is a noun. The plural of Poken is… Poken.

Poken is also a verb. When we do the high four we are said to Poken, or to Poken each other – as a verb it can be either intransitive or transitive.

I’m glad that’s sorted out, one less thing for me to lay in bed worrying about!