Segway

Question

Hi,I know the Segway as a vehicle.Over the past few months I've heard the word used as a verb by "intelligent" knowledgeable people on the radio.Can anyone offer a comprehensive explanation of this usage?(I'm sure there's something on the net, but I'm drawing a blank.)I'm guessing it has something to do with a kind of balancing act, but I haven't been quick enough to catch the context.Thanks!    - A.Edit.  Now I'm finding cross-references to "segue," but my dictionary doesn't have it.  Is it perchance French?

RandomGuy · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Dictionary.com calls it a frequent misspelling of segue. M-W has some example sentences for the verb.

Avangi · Answer

Thanks, A/G.

Have you noticed it recently creeping into the vernacular, or is it my imagination?

- A.

Edit. It's called a "musical direction," but I've never come across it as such through 70 years in music.
Perhaps it's used in film and TV work.

RandomGuy · Answer

The pronunciation sounds somewhat familiar, but I can’t recall where I’ve heard it.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

segue, etymology

1740, an instruction in musical scores, from Italian. segue, literally "now follows," meaning to play into the following movement without a break, third person singular of seguire "to follow," from Latin sequi "to follow," from PIE *sekw- "to follow" (see sequel). Extended noun sense of "transition without a break" is from 1937. The verb in this sense is first recorded 1958.

"Segue" is not intuitively phonetic in English, so I'd not be surprised an alternate version of the spelling has occurred.

Enoon · Answer

AvangiHi,I know the Segway as a vehicle.Over the past few months I've heard the word used as a verb by "intelligent" knowledgeable people on the radio.Can anyone offer a comprehensive explanation of this usage?(I'm sure there's something on the net, but I'm drawing a blank.)I'm guessing it has something to do with a kind of balancing act, but I haven't been quick enough to catch the context.Thanks! - A.Edit. Now I'm finding cross-references to "segue," but my dictionary doesn't have it. Is it perchance French?

"Segway" is a brand name for that two-wheeled pogo stick people ride. It is spelled that way.

"Segue", pronounced like the vehicle, is a term I've been hearing all my life. It is from music, where it means moving into a different piece without stopping. An example is Queen's "We Will Rock You / We are the Champions". The term has been borrowed for any similar action or phenomenon in various fields. It is in the Shorter Oxford, who call it "MUSIC."

Avangi · Answer

Thanks, enoon,
That explains why I hear it on talk radio when multiple people are on mike in the studio. They try not to have any "empty spaces" between jabber and commercials.
I can see why it might be part of their lingo.

I'm still puzzled at why I haven't heard it until recently. Maybe it's catching on.

- A.

CalifJim · Answer

enoon"Segue", pronounced like the vehicle, is a term I've been hearing all my life. It is from music, where it means moving into a different piece without stopping.

Also notated as "attacca" in music. Proceed to the next movement without a pause.

That aside, the usage I'm most familiar with is this one, split infinitive and all, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segue

"In journalism, a segue is a method of smoothly transitioning from one topic to another. A segue allows the host or writer to naturally proceed to another topic without jarring the audience. A good segue makes the subject change seem like a natural extension of the discussion."

I hear "segue" more often on news broadcasts and talk shows. A news anchor will find something in common between a story about volcanoes and the following weather report and say something that leads naturally from one to the other. One of the others at the news desk might say, "Good segue, Jerry!"

So the meanings can be nearly opposite. In music, proceed without any transition from one thing to another. In most other contexts, create a smooth transition from one thing to another.

CJ

Philip · Answer

CalifJim In music, proceed without any transition from one thing to another. In most other contexts, create a smooth transition from one thing to another.

I hear these often.

Avangi · Answer

I'm well aware of the concept, gentlemen. It's only the word which is new to me.
Thank you all.

- A.

Anonymous · Answer

I might add that, in my opinion, both of these words - Segway and segue - should be forgotten by a non-native speaker.  The Segway vehicle has never caught on in the US, and the pretentious folk who use this stuffy word, "segue," are making themselves extremely irritating and are better ignored.

Segway

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions