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Podcasting Officially a Word

goldseries writes "The BBC is reporting that the New Oxford American Dictionary is adding podcasting to the dictionary. A year ago it was rejected because not enough people were reading it, but, in a ode to the speed of technology's growth, it is being declared the word of the year. Podcasting has been in the Oxford Dictionary of English since last summer. Podcast beat out words such as lifehack and rootkit for inclusion in the dictionaries. I guess no one needs to know what a rootkit is."

8 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. Why does podcasting need its own word? by tpgp · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's just a webcast you can save.

    There's nothing particularly special about it.

    --
    My pics.
    1. Re:Why does podcasting need its own word? by spot35 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Probably just feeding the troll but here goes anyway...

      It's less words. It's entered the public consciousness as Podcast. Apparently, "birthplace", "bump", "torture", "olympian", and "mountaineer" weren't discrete words till Shakespeare coined them and they entered the public consciousness.

      Remember, language is a forever mutating beast and will continue to do so, whether you like it or not.

  2. $sys$ROOTKIT by digitaldc · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Now noone will ever know what a rootkit is.

    FYI, if you anagram Podcast, you can come up with 'Stop a CD'

    --
    He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
  3. Re:Pah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    > I'll stick with audio download.

    Right. can someone explain to me the difference between new trendy "podcast" and the old "ftp" or "scp" or "http" that we use for everything else? It's the same old technology just dressed up and marketed by Apple under another name. Hell, you don't even need Apple or an iPod to be involved in listening to these audio broadcasts.

    It's a marketing gimmick.

  4. english has no "official" anything by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Dictionaries never were and never will be a source of information about the english language, expecially not about what words /don't/ exist.

    if you think to yourself "He can't possibly have an argument to support that statement!" You probably misread the statement.

    --
    -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
  5. Re:What!? by Big+Nothing · · Score: 4, Interesting

    True, but if you wanna play the numbers-game:

    Only approximately 4.5 million users will be using podcasts by the end of 2005.

    Up to 24 million users may be infected by the SONY rootkits. In addition, there ARE other rootkits out there...

    Ah, well - I just felt like being a smart-ass.

    --
    SIG: TAKE OFF EVERY 'CAPTAIN'!!
  6. Re:Food for thought... by Walkiry · · Score: 2, Interesting

    >It's only a term "everyone uses" as long as "everyone" is a small subset of the population.

    Here's where we disagree I suppose. I've heard this term used by a wide range of people, in billboard advertisements, TV adverts... Heck, check the MediaMarkt audio and video page and see where the iPod is (hint: click on "Die beliebtesten MP3"). Saturn has the iPods in their "MP3 section." The term "MP3 Player" is very widely extended, where "everyone" stands for a large portion of the general population (sure, all they'll tell you is that it's one of them things that lets you hear the music off your computer, but that's how they're referred to).

    --
    ---- Take the Space Quiz!
  7. Re:Food for thought... by atomic_toaster · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, Kleenex started up in 1924, and you have to admit that the term "Kleenex" as opposed to "facial tissue" is still in use... Band-Aid first came on the market in 1920; these days, it's rare to hear someone ask where they can find the "adhesive bandages".

    So yes, anything that was the first of its kind to become popular often will stand the test of time. "Walkman" and "rollerblades" have also become popularly used to replace "portable cassette deck" and "in-line skates," but they haven't been around long enough to pass the 50-year test. Although, from what I have observed, it really depends on the level of technology with regards to how long a name sticks around. With the invention of CD's, and now mp3 players, nobody really uses the traditional Walkman anymore (although Sony has also labelled their mp3 players "Walkmans", the term still seems to apply to portable cassette players in popular jargon). Rollerblades, too, while less techy than a walkman, aren't nearly as popular as at their first inception. However, terms like Kleenex and Band-Aids stick around for a long time because they have evolved very little since the product was first marketed.

    As an aside, I would personally hope that the term blogosphere does not stand the test of time. It's possibly one of the silliest terms I have ever heard. But with my luck, it will stick around forever, or perhaps be replaced by something much worse...