Slashdot Mirror
Tech Buzzwords Added to Dictionaries
Mark Owen writes "With technology buzzwords becoming so commonly used in daily life, Webster and Oxford have both begun to include some new terms in their latest editions. Some of their newest additions include: adware, biodiesel, codec, digicam, google (as a verb), geocaching, hacktivism, mash-up, rewriteable, ringtone, spyware, and texting."
Maybe I'm wrong, I'm a better ones-and-zeros-smith than a wrodsmith.
What the hell is web-twenty? Is that the time of day when all the pot heads get off their asses and sit at their iMacs and work on their crappy Phish tribute GeoCities site with flying toasters and images of Jerry Garcia?
My work here is dung.
If you're looking these up in the new spelling dicshunaire referenced in this previous slashdot article (over 1000 posts!):
Never have I ever heard of that. I guess some people in the M-W offices got bored playing paddleball and decided to throw in whatever the office dullard had been spattering out. I guess they're saving "wiki" for 2007.
Wait, so you mean to tell me that they are going to add new words into the dictionary? I for one am astounded.
Didn't Google explicitely ask NOT to use Google as a verb? I expect chairs to be thr... oh wait, wrong company.
Well, they're not buzzwords now.
I'm still waiting for slashdot and trolling to be added
Video Game cheats, hints a
The english language hasn't stopped evolving.
More at 11
I'm interested in seeing their definition of Google - whether it means "internet searching" in general.
IAMANAL, but I seem to have heard that if a trademark becomes a popularized verb/noun to refer to a general category of items (i.e. internet searches) it can be used by other companies as well. In this case, there could be a "Microsoft Google" coming along.
Would this be correct?
Nitpick: This is Merriam-Webster, not "Webster". The various American dictionaries with "Webster" in the title are mostly unrelated to each other.
(By the way -- "cybrary"? "mouse potato"? Did they get these words out of a 1995 issue of Wired?)
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Who uses Paper Dictionaries anymore? I mean seriously, you have all the online resources you need in wikipedia and google. You have PDA's and cell phones that will hook you up to the internet, so that's not an excuse anymore.
I spit on these so-called "buzz" words. Ringtone? My audiotelegraph gives me a notification signal, dagnabbit!
Snake-oil-ng: Standards compliant but worthless encryption. Used by founder of Innersafe Corporation to warn others about the new generation of snake-oil encryption products using AES-256 in a way that make their security practically worthless. Snake-oil-ng can truthfully claim to be standards-compliant with AES-256, while providing less security than "snake-oil" using junk proprietary encryption. In one of many examples, allowing millions of passwords to be guessed per second while limiting the range of potential passwords--the generated key is still 256 bits so it can provide the illusion of security. Other examples include repeatedly generating the same IV and key when given the same password. Snake-oil-ng is replacing snake-oil because of easy-to-use crypto libraries that provide AES. And possibly making it easier for governments to give out export licenses to create the illusion that export/import controls have been relaxed. For example, most people have no clue that in the U.S. certain cryptographic software sold to people outside U.S. and Canada require the names and addresses of every customer to be filed semi-annually with the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security--making most retail products use less effective security.
...the new words officially added to the English language.
Gesundheit.
Suspecting words that like to cross dress as other parts of speech is within understanding. But seeing is believing.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
in 99% of cases where I need to know how to spell a word, I type it into google.
The 'did you mean' feature has yet to let me down.
I don't know if they intended this, but it's so reliable that my dictionary stays on the shelf these days, and I barely ever have to use online dictionaries, except when I'm trying to locate a precise definition of a word.
Why both reporting the also ran?
*smirk*
In general, it is safe and legal to kill your children. -- POSIX Programmer's Guide
"With technology buzzwords becoming so commonly used in daily life, Webster and Oxford have both begun to include some new terms in their latest editions. Some of their newest additions include: adware, biodiesel, codec, digicam, google (as a verb), geocaching, hacktivism, mash-up, rewriteable, ringtone, spyware, and texting."
Do you know many company name that became an official word in the dictionnary? Is Kleenex even one? I'm pretty impressed with what Google has accomplished
I wouldn't mind you in my head, if you weren't so clearly mad -Lews Therin Telamon
Now I can grok teh dictionary
I will boycott, hate, and spend the rest of my life lobbying against any dictionary that incorporates that horrifically stupid phrase into its vocab. This is slashdot, dammit. We have to do something.
Everytime I read this word I feel pissed off. I can't explain it...except for saying that it just seems so stupid.
Why, oh why, is this a big deal? Dictionaries are not, by and large, prescriptive. They are not holy tomes to be referenced for authoritative knowledge on how language should be. Rather, they are collections of words, as they are used by people. When the use of a word changes, the dictionary will change to reflect that (rather than insist that people continue to use the old usage). When people start using new words, or stop using old words, the dictionary will change. Why is it that there is such a fuss over words being included in the dictionary? Why do people assume that inclusion gives these words some kind of holy stamp of approval? Some kind of validity? By the time a word makes it into the dictionary, it is already in the lexicon, and has been for a while. Why is it that dictionary inclusion gives these words some kind of super-validity? Why do we care?
Rhapsody in Numbers
Slashdotted: our site crashed after we were slashdotted. Come on, "Mouse Potato" made it, but not slashdotted? Who has ever used the words "mouse potato"?
--- http://davidnehme.blogspot.com
They are the only dictionary that refuses to recognize "gullible" as a word.
We were Texting it up all night, first I googled her codec, then I showed her my biosteel... just be sure to uninstall before you pixelate otherwise you will have a little nanobot to worry about. This method is sooo much better than mere self-storage. Just give her the ole chip and PIN that's what I always say. I look forward to our next mash-up
I think I just accidentally cybered slashdot. crap. it all happened so fast. I just hope whatever I got is screenable
Don't you remember? O'Reilly owns the trademark for Web 2.0. So from now on we refer to it as Web 20, GOT IT? Web 20.
Willie: "Shinning, Lad. You want to be sued!"
Bart: "Right, the Shinning"
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie =UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2005-09,GGLD:en&q=define%3A+S lashdotted
At least google and wikipedia has a definition for it, Webster's does not.
Time for Webster's to join the 21st century.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
Number 1 rule of grammar nazism - don't screw up your closing sentence.
From the article: "Defining google as a verb and as using the Google search engine is appropriate," a representative for Google told CNET News.com in an e-mail." That representative should check with Google's legal department - encouraging the use of a trademarked name is a really good way to lose the trademark. That's why Xerox spent megabucks on a campaign to make sure that people used "photocopying" as the verb for making a copy on a Xerox photocopier.
Other technical words have become common in English.
Lightbulb
Radio
Radar
Sonar
Sonic
Radiation
Electromagnetic
Radiator
Dishwasher
Dryer
Microwave
Television
Telephone
Software
Spreadsheet
Photoshop (as verb)
Internet
Modem
Because brand names that describe a unique concept tend to become generic words, that is why we see Google used as a verb. Common trademarks used as generic words: Aspirin, Kleenex, BandAid, etc. Therefore, you can expect to see new words like...
TiVo
The price of freedom is eternal litigation.
1) It's not really that big of a deal. This is a summertime Friday on Slashdot. There is a small possibility that there will be an article posted here with less than Earth-shattering consequences.
2) When a word appears in the dictionary, it's usage and spelling are defensible. You should no longer be considered illiterate if you write "adware" in a school report or magazine article. And the next edition of your word processor should stop trying to correct "adware" to "aware".
3) As you say, the dictionary is a record of how people use words. It has sociological value. I didn't realize that anyone was actually using the terms "cybrarian" or "mouse potato". Apparently somebody is.
European variation on the Mark Twain text:
he Conversion to Euro English...
With the implementation of the Eurodollar underway in Europe these last few years, the European Union is trying to find new ways to standardize practices in Europe.
The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU rather than German which was the other possibility.
Conversion to European English
As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five year phase-in plan that would be known as "Euro-English".
In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of the "k". This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan have 1 less letter.
Conversion to European English
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20% shorter.
In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be ekspekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent "e"s in the language is disgraseful, and they should go away.
Conversion to European English
By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.
After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi to understand ech ozer. Ze drem vil finali kum tru! And zen world!
slashdot, v. [Error loading definition: No response from server]
In general, it is safe and legal to kill your children. -- POSIX Programmer's Guide
Makes perfect sense to me. I'm no trademark lawyer (or a lawyer of any kind, for that matter, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...), but as long as the new verb refers solely to using Google, does it dilute their trademark? I guess the concern is going to be whether or not the word use starts creeping and begins to mean using any search engine. Personally, I prefer the way Oxford handled it, retaining the capitalization. Still, Google faces an uphill battle from here on out to retain their trademark...
Since google is now declared a verb, will that weaken the value of the word 'google' as a trademark? If I register 'googlearound.com' as a domain (not that I would do something so stupid, since godaddy, the Internet's official domain slut, already has), would it be harder for google to sue me?
just wondering
"We are all geniuses when we dream"
- E.M. Cioran
Maybe they'll add "modem" next.
In theory, practice and theory are the same. In practice, they're not.
How about FAQ?
Scrabble needs "faq".
This is all good and well, but what about the poor words that had to be cut to make room for the newbies?
The humanity.
As in, don't forget to add Web 2.0 as a new dictionary term.
Lame joke, but that's what it is.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
..is a verb. Then, just for fun, and not intending to troll particularly, would anyone care to offer definitions for similar verbs for "to eBay" and "to MySpace"?
Educators were already complaining that students couldn't even write properly in class as they were often falling back on internet short hand in reports. It used to take an extremely long time for buzz words to get into dictionaries, they had to have a long history of usage. Now, it seems a couple of years of sketchy usage and you're good enough for Websters. I remember that when there was a story about them adding Bootylicious to the dictionary, which people get beaten for using now good choice on that, they were also adding a couple of slang words from like the 50s or something. Took them 50 years to earn a spot in websters, and bootylicious was getting in after a year or so.
Yeah..
I don't think some should be in there...
Google as a verb (or noun for that matter) is too specific. Its more of a fad than anything. What happens in ten years when another great search engine, say "klink", shows up and we all start saying "did you klink it?"
And "mouse potato"? "Computer/Internet junkie" maybe, but mouse potato is pretty lame...
It also seems to me that a "wave pool" should be something in the encyclopedia and not the dictionary. Same with "avian influenza".
"cybrary" and "cybrarian"? Did they gleen that from a sci-fi novel?
One day, this convenient little word will get the promotion from 'jargon' to the big time. You just wait!
I'm glad to see this one. I hope that it is a sign of increasing popularity of this alternative fuel. Biodiesel has actually been around for some time now. For about $4K, you can buy a home biodiesel plant that is capable of producing 40 gallons a week of the stuff, with about 2 hours of effort, 50 cents/gallon worth of chemicals, plus whatever you have to pay for vegetable oil (waste vegetable oil can still be obtained for free, but I expect that will change as it gets more popular). And unlike ethanol, electric, or hydrogen, biodiesel can be used right now without the need for inventing entirely new technologies.
Concealed Handgun License Courses in Plano, Texas
hacktivism: See criminal
(and trust me, I've been losing turns for a while finding out that half of what I say doesn't count)
- Kal`Goblez
that joke was so horrible and overplayed that it just killed millions of Europeans jews. Please, think of the children before you post.
This concept, when looked from an actual practical standpoint, seems a bit useless to me. Chances are if you're going to talk about Googling(Now there's a question; when used as a verb, are you supposed to capatalize it?) something, chances are you're not going to be getting out your Webster paper dictionary to look up one of these new words. Of course, I suppose it'll be nice for any elemetary school student doing a report on 'technology'.
Those are words that are used in a particular field (computers, in this case) that are created to deal with new concepts that are introduced in that field. In other words, they're just jargon.
A buzzword is a word that generates 'buzz', i.e., it's getting a lot of attention and seems to pop up everywhere, even in places where it doesn't make sense. Sometimes even the word doesn't make sense, or becomes so popular that its meaning becomes fuzzy as people who never solidly grasped its original meaning begin to use it regularly. Multi-threaded was a buzzword in the late 90s, multimedia is starting to wane but it's been a buzzword for a long time. Lessee, some others I can think of are framework, leverage, cyberspace, online, legacy, foo-killer, and collaborative.
I always liked that kinda construction, and it goes back to days of oldskool hip hop.
So you take that components of your mash-ups and title it, you know:
Mario vs. London Philharmonic or whatever you've got going on in your track.
Unfortunately saying: "I like to compose Vs. (versus)" sounds kinda like verses or "I like to write lyrics".
I think if you avoid certain verbs before "versus" (drop, write, compose), and stick to more descriptive ones (track, mix, splice).
Shit, I like that last one.
"I really enjoy splicin' versus."
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
Interesting... all those words are included in the dictionary that has been included with Tiger since it was launched almost a year ago (New Oxford American Dictionary, 2nd Edition). The only one missing is rewriteable, which is spelled rewritable in that dictionary. And, unlike the Oxford English Dictionary mentioned in the article, the verb google appears both capitalized and not capitalized.
Frankly this looks like rather old news...