I’m losing control of my name here. Julien Devereux has written in with a suggestion developing Dave Bennett’s definition, which I reported yesterday. Says Julien:
If you “geras” someone on your blog, rather than over the phone or in person, that’s textual gerassment, isn’t it?
Talking about which… no, I’m not saying anything.
It suddenly occurs to me: people have been mispronouncing my name for years, in fact ever since I’ve had it. But I have a blog now. I can put things straight. ‘Geras’ is pronounced with a hard ‘g’ – as in ‘get’ rather than in ‘geranium’ – and to rhyme with ‘terrace’; so with the emphasis on the first syllable, not the second. Just like that, see: ‘Geras’. Now, in ‘gerassment’, it may be different. I’ll have to consult with its originator, but I’m reckoning it may take on something of the accentuation of ‘harassment’.