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Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
Hi –
I was listening to a magazine programme on the radio on the way to work this morning. The host (a popular national broadcaster) was speaking to a group of twins about what it’s like to be a twin. He asked if they found it necessary during adolescence to “forage your own identity” – intending to say “forge your own identity”.
Is this a new coinage? A search on Google for the exact string “forage your own identity” returned zero hits, “forge your own identity” returned 370.
The reason for this usage is easy to understand – instead of “forging identity” in the hot fire of a blacksmith’s forge, people who “forage identity” browse their environment for their identity like hunter-gathers. Both are forms of self sufficiency – one active and creative, the other passive and opportunistic.
I suspect that the Irish accent makes this usage quite likely – but that’s conjecture.
If the ‘twins’ spot makes it into this week’s compilation podcast, you’ll be able to hear the coinage at this URL:
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/podcast/podcast_tubridy.xml
Best Regards
Ben
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