Swiftie (pronounced swiftee)
(1) In slang (originally Australian) a trick, ruse, or
deception (often in the form “(s)he pulled a swiftie”).
(2) A self-identifying term used by the most devoted
(some suggest obsessed) fans of the musician Taylor Swift (b 1989). The collective is “Swifties” (the initial
capital not always used) and as fandom they distinguish themselves from mere
casual listeners although the media tends to apply the term to all. In 2017, Taylor Swift trade-marked the term
Swiftie for commercial use and The Oxford English Dictionary elevated it from “slang”
to “word” in 2022; it was a finalist in
Oxford’s 2023 Word of the Year judging.
(3) As "Singapore Swiftie", an emerging alternative form for term "exclusivity clause", most associated with contract law.
1945 (for the Australian slang) and (at least) 2010 (of
Taylor Swift’s fans): The construct was
swift + -ie. The word swift existed in the
Middle English as an adjective & adverb prior to 900 and was an adjective
in the Old English. It was akin to the Old
English swīfan (to revolve) and the Old
Norse svīfa (to rove) and was most
common as an adjective (moving or capable of moving with great speed or
velocity; fleet; rapid; coming, happening, or performed quickly or without
delay; quick or prompt to act or respond).
The Old English swift was from the Proto-Germanic swiftaz (swift; quick), from the primitive Indo-European sweyp & weyp- (to twist; wind around) and cognate with the Icelandic svipta (to pull quickly) and the Old
English swīfan (to revolve, sweep,
wend, intervene). While the derived
forms (swiftly, swiftness et al) are well-known and most have survived, one
which went extinct was the thirteenth century swiftship “the ability to run fast”. In the Australian way, the slang “swiftie”
(also often as “swifty”) was also re-purposed as a nickname for someone “slow”
(both mentally & physically). The
suffix -ie was a variant spelling of -ee, -ey & -y and was used to form
diminutive or affectionate forms of nouns or names. It was used also (sometimes in a derogatory
sense to form colloquial nouns signifying the person associated with the
suffixed noun or verb (eg bike: bikie, surf: surfie, hood: hoodie etc). Swiftie is a noun; the noun
plural is swifties.
The surname Swift was of English origin and is thought to
have been literally a reference to someone who was “swift” (a fast runner). There are entries in parish records in Suffolk
dating from 1222 recording the birth of “Nicholas,
ye sonne of Swyfte” and Swift evolved as a name often given to a messenger
or courier (the faster a carrier, the faster the transmission of the message, a
concept which has survived into the internet age. In the household books of the court of Edward
III (1312–1377; King of England 1327-1377), a Ralph Swyft was recorded as his
courier. The name became common in
England and in later centuries spread throughout the English-speaking world.
As SWIFT, it’s the acronym for the Society for Worldwide
Interbank Financial Telecommunication: an international consortium that routes
instructions concerning transfer of funds between financial institutions. Except in the business of money transfers, it
was an obscure organization until Mr Putin’s (Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; b
1952; president or prime minister of Russia since 1999) special military operation against Ukraine when the significance of SWIFT in the commodities
markets (where Russia is a big player) became widely understood after the
imposition of trade and other economic sanctions.
In the purple: Dr Taylor Swift in academic gown after being conferred an honorary doctorate in fine arts from New York University, May 2022.
The noun swift was applied to name any of numerous
long-winged, swallow-like birds of the family Apodidae, related to the
hummingbirds and noted for their rapid flight.
It was used also of several types of moth, butterfly & lizard noted
for their rapid movements and in engineering was used of the adjustable device on
the processing apparatus upon which a hank of yarn is placed in order to wind
off skeins or balls or the main cylinder on a machine for carding flax. In the plural, the word was used of the
faster-flowing current of a stream or reaches of a river and “swifts” in that
sense remains in literary and poetic use although it’s otherwise obsolete. Historically, the adjective Swiftian meant “of
or pertaining to the Anglo-Irish satirist and essayist Jonathan Swift
(1667–1745) or his works” (the best known of which were A Tale of a Tub (1704) & Gulliver's
Travels (1726) but of late it has in academia been used also of Taylor
Swift. Universities are businesses which
operate to make a profit and even Harvard now runs Taylor Swift courses which
focus on her musical and lyrical style. Jonathan
Swift in 1713 became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, thus his later common
sobriquet: “Dean Swift”. It’s thought
unlikely Talyor Swift will follow her namesake into ecclesiastical
administration.
The Singapore Swiftie
The lawyers in the Singapore government have a famously acute commercial sense and wouldn’t have needed the back of an envelope, let also a spreadsheet, to work out that if an exclusivity clause could be agreed with Taylor Swift, guaranteeing her six concerts in the city-state would be her only performances in the region, the economic benefits in terms of inward capital flows would be considerable. For Taylor Swift’s operation too there would have been advantages, not the least of which would have been Singapore’s high level of security and world-class infrastructure but the cost off-sets would also have been considerable including a reduction in travel expenses and the logistical impositions of touring (the set-up and tear-down of the venues is a major operation with a high labor component). The amount the government paid for the exclusivity clause wasn’t disclosed but presumably both parties were satisfied with the transaction. Such is Ms Swift’s cultural power that it seems not even Greta Thunberg (b 2003) was prepared to risk incurring the wrath & indignation of the Swifties by commenting on the addition carbon generated by so many of them flying to see their idol.
Exclusivity clauses are common in commercial contracts
and are used variously for purposes such as (1) guarding software, products or
services from unwanted distribution, (2) granting exclusive rights to certain
parties and forbidding the transfer of those permissions to others, (3) obliging
certain parties to purchase products or services exclusively from one’s company
rather than a competitor. So, there’s
nothing novel about exclusivity clauses and in most jurisdictions, usually they’re
enforceable unless they offend against some over-arching restriction such as “unconscionable
conduct” or a violation of competition rules.
As a general principle, the guidelines for an exclusivity clause to be
held valid are (1) voluntariness (ie entered into without coercion), (2)
certainty of terms (ie no ambiguity), (3) a beginning and an end (although the
clauses can, with the agreement of both parties, be extended indefinitely, the clause
should be limited in time and renewal & termination protocols must be clear),
(4) product & service standards and payment terms must be clear (including
variation protocols) and (5) the consequences of any breach must be explicit
and detail specific remedies such as monetary compensation.
There are reasons other than the music to become a Swiftie: The statuesque Taylor Swift in a Sachin & Babi patchwork dress at Capital FM’s Jingle Bell Ball, London, December 2014. The eye was drawn by the intricate detailing and although some missed her trademark red lipstick, the garment's array of variegated reds meant that would have been too much, the same admirable restraint dictating the choice of black shoes. Solid colors tend to dominate the red carpet so this piece was a rare splash of genuine adventurism.
Reaction to the deal (soon labeled the “Singapore swiftie”, the formation presumably influenced also by the equally alliterative "Singapore Sling")
in the region was swift. Authorities in
Hong Kong & Thailand were immediately critical and one Philippine politician
told local media Singapore was operating by “the law of the jungle” and not the law of a “neighborhood of countries bound by supposed principles of solidarity
and consensus”, a not so subtle reminder that in the neighborhood diplomatic
relations have in recent decades been usually smooth, the members of Asean (Association
of Southeast Asian Nations), the regional economic and security bloc, famously
operating on the basis of “consensus”, a reasonably achievement in an
organization of which Myanmar (sometimes still referred to as Burma) is a
member.
However, even while the waves from west & north were disturbing Asean’s usually calm waters, Lee Hsien Loong (b 1952; Prime Minister of Singapore since 2004) was addressing the matter of the Singapore Swiftie in a press conference conducted as part of an Asean summit held, unusually, in Melbourne: “A deal was reached. And so it has turned out to be a very successful arrangement. I don't see that as being unfriendly” Mr Lee said, confirming an “incentive” had been paid to secure the deal. That matter had already attracted interest but the Singapore Tourism Board declined to comment on the amount paid, saying the terms were “commercial in confidence” and Taylor Swift's concert promoter was just as reticent. The math however will have been done by many and not only does the Singapore economy gain from all the visitors arriving to rent hotel rooms, buy food and catch trains but the city state benefits also from its citizens not leaving the territory, taking their money to neighboring countries to spend there. Thus, Singapore’s gain is the loss of others and while the numbers in the estimates of the benefit gained bounce around a bit, all were in the hundreds of millions of US dollars.
Plenty of touring acts will have noted all of this and
while few have anything like the drawing power of Taylor Swift, doubtless most
will have suggested promoters add the Singapore Swiftie to their negotiating
toolbox, the hope being that in playing countries & cities off against each
other, a bidding war will ensue; certainly, for decades, the approach has worked
well for operators like the IOC (International Olympic Committee), FIFA (Fédération
internationale de football association) and Formula One. Hopefully there’s also a linguistic legacy
and in the jargon of law and commerce, the dull & boring “exclusivity clause”
will be replaced by the exciting and attractively alliterative “Singapore
Swiftie”.
No comments:
Post a Comment