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OED Science Fiction Database Updated

Posted by simoniker on from the flash-wordgone dept.

solferino writes "The Oxford English dictionary commenced a project back in 2001 (Slashdot report) to solicit reader citations of the earliest uses of science fiction words. The most recent OED newsletter covers the progress of the project, which has its own site hosted on a FreeBSD box running a MySQL database engine. An interesting graph on the site shows date of word origin by decade. Surprisingly recent words featured on the site are /avatar/ (1990 - in the VR sense) and /morph/ (1993) - unless the Slashdot readership can report earlier uses?"

14 of 267 comments (clear)

  1. Kerry - the Fifth Column by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    Ok. That's it.

    Just read this.

    The cowards of the Old Europe are secretly supporting Kerry.

    A vote for Kerry is a vote against an independent, free America.

  2. *BSD is dying? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Not anymore!

  3. Re:Don't forget... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    FUCK THE GNAA
    black+gay = 2 reasons you are going to hell

  4. Interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I wonder if "smelly nerd" was in there anywhere.

  5. MySql vs Slashdot by manganese4 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Wonder how Mysql will handle the slashdot load? With luck we can get a performance statement from the site owners

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    I make my face look like this and concerned words come out.
  6. Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    NGSCB + SCO = Linux is dying.

  7. Re:War stimulates the imagination? by grub · · Score: 2, Offtopic


    Hopefully our descendents won't look back and say "Bizarre peaks around the 1940's and early 2000's..."

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    Trolling is a art,
  8. Re:Don't forget... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    Now look who's talking about taking it up the ass...

    Have fun dealing with the clusterfuck in Iraq without your "allies" after Blair "the poodle" has been voted out too.

  9. ON NOS!!! WHAT WILL WE DO WITHOUT TEH ENGLISH?!?11 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
  10. Re:Massive spending on R&D by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    It wasn't the war exactly....There was plenty of new development involved in the trips to the moon.

    What?? We only went to the moon because of Vietnam. It was of strategic importance that we controlled the moon. Unfortunately, it didn't help in the end.

  11. Re:Don't forget... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    No. It's the US who's taking it up the ass for forcing the issue.

    You're still a young nation. We in the old europe already know that empire building won't do and that brutal suppression of the fringe groups only feeds violence. They have political wings. Mollify the politicos and within a decade or two you've got the assimilated (witness IRA, for instance).

    Terrorism actually has a well proven track-record of of getting results. Just see how Israel got her independence. Haganah, Palmah, Irgun and the Stern Gang and a whole bunch of dead British civilians. There's no shame in negotiating with them.

  12. The Welsh and the Scots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Well, my friend, it all depends whether you've still got the Welsh and the Scots.

  13. Being Referenced - Massively OT by Embedded+Geek · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Wow. It was one thing when I had the origianl article posted, but it's another when someone else references my original article. I know I have no reason to be proud (hey, the article is about OED, not the guy who posted the it), but somehow I really do.

    I guess I am an even smaller, sad little man than I thought...

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    "Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."

  14. Goatse by Compact+Dick · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Where's our favourite term, as in "Damn Slashdot trolls! I got goatse d again!" or "space imitates goatse "?

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    Use ISO 8601 dates [YYYY-MM-DD]