peak
peak – aggettivo
Three years after the first reports of peak beard emerged, it seems the trend for facial hair is finally ready for the chop.
We have not reached peak surveillance . . . but we have reached peak awareness of surveillance.
Everyone in the past 20 years who predicted that pop culture had finally hit peak superhero turned out to be wrong.
People have been claiming peak Prosecco for 30 years, but there’s still lots of scope for premium bottlings of Italy’s flagship sparkling wine.
Presentata nel lontano 1956, la teoria del picco petrolifero, o peak oil, ha visto susseguirsi innumerevoli tentativi di prevedere quando la produzione petrolifera raggiungerà il suo massimo, senza che peraltro si sia mai arrivati a un consenso generale. Dunque l’uso aggettivale di peak per indicare il momento di massima intensità di qualcosa non è niente di nuovo, come dimostrano le espressioni peak time, peak hours, peak velocity, peak demand ecc.
Di recente, però, peak ha acquistato un altro significato, usato scherzosamente per descrivere un fenomeno che riscuote grande successo per un breve periodo di tempo prima di scivolare inesorabilmente nel dimenticatoio. E in effetti sembra davvero che non appena emerge una tendenza i media siano anche troppo svelti a sottolinearne il presunto picco e a predirne l’inevitabile declino. Chissà, forse abbiamo forse raggiunto peak peak, il momento in cui descrivere come peak un trend ha raggiunto il picco e inizia a tramontare…
Origini del termine
In uso dal XVI secolo circa, peak ha assunto valore aggettivale intorno ai primi del XX secolo.
Traduzione di Loredana Riu
peak – adjective
Three years after the first reports of peak beard emerged, it seems the trend for facial hair is finally ready for the chop.
We have not reached peak surveillance . . . but we have reached peak awareness of surveillance.
Everyone in the past 20 years who predicted that pop culture had finally hit peak superhero turned out to be wrong.
People have been claiming peak Prosecco for 30 years, but there’s still lots of scope for premium bottlings of Italy’s flagship sparkling wine.
The concept of peak oil was developed as long ago as 1956. Since that time there have been many attempts to predict the point at which the world will reach this point, without any general agreement being reached. Peak has long been used adjectivally to refer to the moment of maximum intensity or activity, in combinations like peak time, peak hours, peak velocity, peak demand and so on.
At some point in recent years, adjectival peak acquired another meaning. The adjective has started to be used humorously to describe any phenomenon that is briefly very successful or popular before entering a steep decline. Indeed, almost as soon as a trend is observed, journalists start to claim that we have reached peak whatever and that its decline and disappearance must surely follow soon. Predictions of this type have generally proved about as successful as attempts to predict the moment when peak oil will be (or has been) reached. Some have even claimed to observe peak peak, the moment at which the habit of attaching peak to social trends itself starts to decline.
Origin
The word peak has been around since the 16th century. It has been used adjectivally since the early 20th century.
