We Didn’t Just Fall Off the Turnip Truck

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

e-Minister vs. iMinister

My wife has a cousin who received ordination online and later performed a wedding here in Belleville for his brother. While returning from a different wedding in Athens, Georgia, my brother, sister-in-law, wife, and I discussed this, musing about what one could call such a member of the cloth. I suggested e-minister, which prompted much laughter among our travel-weary group.

On reflection, though, I feel iMinister may be a better fit. Imagine such a clergyman saying it: it sounds like an indicative statement.
“What do you do?”
“I’m an iMinister.”
“A what?”
“You know—iMinister!”
Either one would make for an interesting job description on a business card or web page. Does one sound funnier? If so, which one? After gathering sufficient commentary from sufficient contributors, I’d like to submit either or both of these to the neologism departments of the Oxford English Dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary, and Webster’s Third New International Dictionary.

Ambitious? Perhaps. Necessary? Without question.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I prefer E-minister. It sounds a bit more grand, as if there's millions of members of an electronic faith promoting e-malgimation worldwide. I-minister sounds a bit too techy, plus it has too many I's.