From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Maven
Maven
A maven (also mavin) is a trusted expert in a particular
field, who seeks to pass knowledge on to others. The
Usage
word maven comes from Hebrew, via Yiddish, and means Malcolm Gladwell used it in his book The Tipping Point
one who understands, based on an accumulation of (Little Brown, 2000) to describe those who are intense
knowledge.[1] gatherers of information and impressions, and so are of-
ten the first to pick up on new or nascent trends. The
popularity of the work of Safire and Gladwell has made
History the word widely used in their particular contexts. Glad-
The word comes to English through Yiddish, which in well also suggests that mavens may act most effectively
turn derives from the Hebrew mevin ( ,)מֿביןmeaning "one when in collaboration with connectors - i.e., those people
who understands," and relates to the word binah, which who have wide network of casual acquaintances by
denotes understanding or wisdom in general. It was first whom they are trusted, often a network that crosses
recorded in English around 1952, and popularized in the many social boundaries and groups. Connectors can thus
United States in the 1960s by a series of commercials cre- easily and widely distribute the advice or insights of a
ated by Martin Solow for Vita Herring, featuring "The maven.
Beloved Herring Maven." The “Beloved Herring Maven“ In the afterword of The Tipping Point, Gladwell de-
ran in radio ads from 1964-1968, and was then brought scribed a "maven trap" as a method of obtaining infor-
back in 1983 with Allan Swift, the original voice of the mation from mavens. In the book he gave the example
Maven.[2] of the toll-free telephone number on the back of a bar of
Many sites credit Vita with popularizing the word Ivory soap, which one could call with questions or com-
Maven. An example of print advertisement including the ments about the product. Gladwell’s opinion is that on-
Maven: "Get Vita at your favorite supermarket, grocery ly those who are passionate or knowledgeable about soap
or delicatessen. Tell them the beloved Maven sent you. would bother to call and that this is a method by which
It won’t save you any money, but you’ll get the best her- the company could inexpensively glean valuable infor-
ring".[3] mation about their market.
Since the 1980s it has become more common since Michael Chabon’s 2007 noir-ish alternate reality nov-
William Safire adapted it to describe himself as "the lan- el "The Yiddish Policemen’s Union" contained a pivotal
guage maven". The word is mainly confined to American character called "The Boundary Maven" whose knowl-
English, but did not appear with the publication of the edge of orthodox Jewish rules regarding the ability of
1976 edition of Webster’s Third New International Dic- people to legitimately walk within their own property
tionary; it is, however, included in the Oxford English on the Sabbath allowed him to use string between lamp-
Dictionary second edition (1989) CD ROM version 4.0 is- posts to create expansive "personal" boundaries for
sue of 2009. Numerous individuals and entities now affix those willing to pay him.
maven or mavin to indicate their expertise in a particular
area.[citation needed]
In network theory and sociology, a maven is someone
References
who has a disproportionate influence on other members [1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/maven
of the network.[citation needed] The role of mavens in prop- [2] "Beloved Herring Maven is Returning to Solow"
agating knowledge and preferences has been established [3] advt. in Hadassah News Letter, April 30, 1965
in various domains, from politics to social trends.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maven&oldid=464553987"
Categories:
• Community building
• Socioeconomics
• Yiddish words and phrases
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Maven
This page was last modified on 7 December 2011 at 11:38. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
2