‘Truthiness’ be told, the old dictionary is going new school
Don’t be a hater, but my BFF tweeted me with the news that the
Oxford Dictionary, the venerable, 126-year-old arbiter of language,
has followed the lead of social media and social networking and
added more modern terms and definitions to its pages. I’m LMAO.
Truth be told, I don’t tweet (yet), I don’t use the term BFF,
and I’m not laughing my (hindquarters) off, but it is true that the
dictionary has added more web-inspired and slang words this year in
response to the popularity of social media. Examples used in that
first sentence include
”
hater,
”
”
tweet,
”
”
BFF (best friend forever),
”
and
”
LMAO.
”
All words in quotations in this column were also added this
year, or at least had additional definitions added to them.
‘Truthiness’ be told, the old dictionary is going new school
Don’t be a hater, but my BFF tweeted me with the news that the Oxford Dictionary, the venerable, 126-year-old arbiter of language, has followed the lead of social media and social networking and added more modern terms and definitions to its pages. I’m LMAO.
Truth be told, I don’t tweet (yet), I don’t use the term BFF, and I’m not laughing my (hindquarters) off, but it is true that the dictionary has added more web-inspired and slang words this year in response to the popularity of social media. Examples used in that first sentence include “hater,” “tweet,” “BFF (best friend forever),” and “LMAO.” All words in quotations in this column were also added this year, or at least had additional definitions added to them.
Tweet was already in the dictionary, but its new definition was added: “A posting made on the social networking site.”
The pervasiveness of these terms in our culture makes it understandable why the dictionary now “rocks” them.
I have friends who are male, but I have never had what I would call a “bromance.” My wife, who is more of a baseball mom than a “hockey mom,” does have “gal pals” and she owns a “LBD” (little black dress), that she periodically “rocks” (wears). The “credit crunch” has impacted my family and I have recently had to “defriend” some Facebook acquaintances for posting one too many times that they want me to join them in Mafia Wars. I guess we all need an “exit strategy.”
My family doesn’t go to a “megachurch” – it is of average size, I’d say – but we do use “social media” to do “social networking.” In fact, we really “heart” these modern means of communication.
“What’s not to like?” (a new Oxford phrase.)
I’ll “cop to” the fact that I text and Facebook, which is both a noun and a verb, like text. I’m no “nimrod;” I can “own” it and not just “talk the talk.”
These words and phrases have gone “viral,” with everyone having access to social media through mobile devices.
When I was on a “staycation” recently, watching soccer fans blow those irritating “vuvuzelas” during the World Cup, I realized that in my search for “truthiness” in the media, I could not find it on the “Interweb.” It’s “like herding cats.”
As a member of “big media,” (the main means of mass communication other than blogs and personal websites), I am witness to how these words and phrases infiltrate our language; first informally and then in the pages of the dictionary.
Some people think they are “all that” because they use terms like “the new black” to describe a color of clothing that is popular, but oftentimes they are using “eggcorns,” words or phrases that result from mishearing or misinterpreting words – like acorns.
I may have done that a time or two, which is “my bad.” It’s just that I sometimes “riff” in an effort to complete my story “arc.”
Whether you are a “lipstick lesbian” with a “tramp stamp” or a “cougar” with a “green collar” job, I just hope you don’t have a “wardrobe malfunction.”
Thanks for taking the time to “share a moment” with this column. “TTYL” (talk to you later.)
Adam Breen writes a blog at http://thebreenblog.blogspot.com and teaches newspaper and yearbook classes at San Benito High School. He is a reporter for the Pinnacle and former editor of the Free Lance. E-mail him at [email protected].
