Etymology
As witnessed in a high school English class:
Teacher: "Who knows what 'novelty' means?"
Student, sighing as he gets out of his seat and walks to throw something out in the trash can: "Novelty is novel, novel is book, book is boring. That's what it means."
As the program director observing the class, of course I couldn't say anything. I wanted to laugh. I was never one of those kids who could or dared to spin back a smart-alecky response to a teacher's question. But then again, I have a sad hunch that he didn't know what "novelty" meant to begin with.
