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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!):
Wait, so you mean to tell me that they are going to add new words into the dictionary? I for one am astounded.
Well, they're not buzzwords now.
I'm still waiting for slashdot and trolling to be added
Video Game cheats, hints a
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!
...the new words officially added to the English language.
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?
blarg.
Everytime I read this word I feel pissed off. I can't explain it...except for saying that it just seems so stupid.
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
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.
slashdot, v. [Error loading definition: No response from server]
In general, it is safe and legal to kill your children. -- POSIX Programmer's Guide
Besides that, dictionaries do have some authority that people put trust in. As you mention, it's already colloquially used, but that only helps for people in those circles. Now that there's a trusted resource, people outside of those lexical circles can peer inside and figure out what those words mean, without getting a run around online. A parent hearing their kid use these words may feel stupid asking the kid what those words meant (and wouldn't likely get a straight answer), but now, rather than trying to do searches online (since their lack of understanding means they likely don't get a lot of internet exposure), they have a trusted resource they can refer to.
You may not care since you see these words all the time, but it's like any archiving; it's there for people who need it.
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
I still prefer the good old days of Web 19.
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.