In today’s NYT Magazine (on-line on 11/27), “The Insect Apocalypse Is Here: What does it mean for the rest of life on Earth?” by Brooke Jarvis: an alarming tale of scientists tracking huge declines in the insects in our environment: in raw amount of biomass, in numbers of species, in numbers of individuals in particular species.
(#1) The dramatic cover for the magazine
This is a note on the N + N compound insect apocalypse.
(#2) Insects (and some closely related arthropods) illustrating the article
The compound insect apocalypse has a Patient/Object interpretation: it’s ‘an event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale’ (NOAD) affecting insects.
A couple of other X apocalypse compounds with the Patient/Object interpretation:
After the retail apocalypse, what next for the high street? (link) — referring to the devastation of retail shops
The climate apocalypse is now, and it’s happening to you (link) — referring to ongoing damage (becoming catastrophic) related to climate change
This interpretation contrasts with the Agent/Subject interpretation of zombie apocalypse, referring to an apocalypse at the hands of zombies:
A zombie apocalypse is a particular scenario within apocalyptic fiction. In a zombie apocalypse, a widespread rise of zombies hostile to human life engages in a general assault on civilization. (Wikipedia link)
A zombie apocalypse in progress in a scene from the tv series The Walking Dead:
(#2)
One more Agent/Subject X apocalypse example:
What if there was a robot apocalypse? How long would humanity last? (link) — referring to a catastrophic takeover by robots
Compare the discussion in my 9/2/18 posting “Molesting and abusing ambiguously” of N + N compounds like child abuse: Patient/Object ‘abuse of children’ vs. Agent/Subject ‘abuse by children’.
December 8, 2018 at 2:31 pm |
[…] Zwicky considers the idea of the ongoing insect […]