Now that I know that "globalization" is a "zombie" noun, I feel like I expose myself to the undead whenever I put down in a cover letter the following sentence: "I specialize in literature and globalization."
"Zombie" nouns, according to Helen Sword, an Auckland-based academic, are results of nominalization, a process via which new nouns are formed from other parts of speech (from an adjective, an active verb or another noun).
Why "zombie"?
Because they cannibalize active verbs, suck the lifeblood from adjectives and substitute abstract entities for human beings.
Zombie nouns are used mostly by academics, lawyers, bureaucrats and business writers (who have no business using zombie nouns).
I confess I have used many a zombie noun in my academic essays. I've always found it difficult to express abstract and cerebral concepts in concrete terms. I take Ms. Sword's advice and will try to write of complex thoughts in "language [that] remains firmly anchored in the physical world."
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