In 2011, there were 252 searches for the word reductive in the Macmillan Dictionary. So in the 7 days from 13th to 19th January inclusive, we would have expected to see 5.
In fact, we had well over 2,000 individual searches for the word reductive.
The reason, it would appear, was a comment made by Madonna with reference to a Lady Gaga song, Born This Way. In the course of an interview with Cynthia McFadden on ABC Radio, Madge said:
When I heard it on the radio, I said, ‘That sounds very familiar. It feels reductive.’
The interviewer, sensing that this might be a veiled criticism of Lady Gaga, asked if this was a good thing. Madonna ‘smiled coyly, took a sip of tea and said, “Look it up.”’
And a lot of people did just that.
Email this Post
Coyly would mean ” unwilling to make a commitment…”