Geeks get a word in with Merriam-Webster
Geek culture is once again showing its influence over the mainstream lexicon in the latest version of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, which includes word additions such as webinar, malware, netroots, pretexting (thank you Hewlett-Packard), and fanboy (thank you Apple).
Webinar is "one more example of the significant ongoing trend for electronic technologies to add words to the language," Merriam-Webster publisher John Morse said in a Monday press release about the 100 or so new words in the 2008 edition of the influential reference guide.
That's in line with Merriam-Webster's choice of the term "wOOt"--with its roots in video game culture--as the word of the year for 2007.
The 100 or so new words in M-W's latest dictionary reflect societal trends beyond technology. For example, some stem from culinary arts, such as prosecco (a sparkling Italian wine), soju (a Korean vodka distilled from rice), edamame (immature green soybeans), and pescatarian (a vegetarian whose diet includes fish).
But my favorite new entry, by far, is mondegreen, defined as "a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung." According to M-W, the term was first coined by author Sylvia Wright in 1954, when Wright wrote an article for The Atlantic magazine confessing to a childhood misinterpretation of the Scottish ballad "The Bonny Earl of Moray." "When she first heard the lyric, 'they had slain the Earl of Moray and had laid him on the green,' she felt terribly sorry for the 'poor Lady Mondegreen,'" according to the press release.
A more contemporary example is the bungling of the Jimi Hendrix "Purple Haze" line, "Scuse me, while I kiss the sky" as "Scuse me, while I kiss this guy." My personal mondegreen example is the line from the Clash song "Rock the Casbah," "The shareef don't like it," which I always thought was, "Shareeve don't like it." Who was this Shareeve character anyway, I wondered. You got one? M-W is asking the public to submit their own mondegreens by July 25, with favorites to be revealed and featured online beginning July 28.
M-W says it picks the new dictionary entries only after it starts to see the words used over time without explanation or translation. Here's an Associated Press story with more details.
Michelle Meyers is an associate editor who tracks online happenings in media, entertainment, and politics. E-mail Michelle. 
And don't blame Apple for "Fanboy". Fanboy is an insult you direct at someone when your personal bias prevents you from bothering to listen or understand. It's a brick wall for shutting down honest and reasoned discourse. Like the way extreme right wing Americans shut down moderate to left Americans by labelling them as "liberal". The Moderates will modify their behaviour to avoid the label.
Fanboy and liberal (the negative American connotation of liberal) have got to go, as far as i'm concerned, they are poison words that damage reasonable communication.
[http://Fanboy is an insult you direct at someone when your personal bias prevents you from bothering to listen or understand. It's a brick wall for shutting down honest and reasoned discourse. |http://Fanboy is an insult you direct at someone when your personal bias prevents you from bothering to listen or understand. It's a brick wall for shutting down honest and reasoned discourse. ]
You have the terms switched around. Apple Fanboys do not tolerate other opinions or objective commentaries - just peruse the 'net or conduct your own test. State something accurate yet not kissing Apple and watch the Fanboys come out of the woodwork bashing and attacking.
Liberals are the ones who are notorious for shouting down anyone who disagrees with them. Most 'right wing' people respect the constitution and realize the liberals have a right to their opinions - no matter how unsupported and inaccurate they may be.
I'm way ahead of you, buddy! I've actually already done what you suggest; perused the net and conducted a study of language and discussion techniques on the web. I've been noticing Fanboy especially over the past 8 months or so, because it is being used more than ever to attempt to end discussions. It usually goes like this: Someone says "Hey, I like X because of A, B, and C" and somebody else says "Oh, yeah, well X sucks, you're just a fanboy!" It is as if people believe they can erase or nullify points A, B and C (which may or may not be valid) just by dropping the Fanboy bomb. And it is rare that the person dropping the Fanboy bomb contributes any valid points, or addresses the points made. I'm sure they HAVE valid points, they'd just rather call someone a name and move on.
It's all amazingly dumb, but I can't tear my eyes away from the way that the word Fanboy is used to say "I don't want to talk about this anymore". And it's not about Apple, "Fanboy" gets thrown at anyone who has an enthusiasm for something that somebody else doesn't care for.
And I wasn't trying to interject bash politics, I'm not American so it's none of my political concern. However, I've always been interested, from a communication and cultural perspective, in the American use of the word "liberal" since I noticed the way my American relatives used it when I was a teenager (negatively). So yes, I've paid attention to it. I've noticed in the past year or two that Fanboy is used in the exact same way.
That said, I don't know if he'd based it on the common "mondegreen" or used it regardless of external influence.
- by woodso2 February 23, 2009 6:39 AM PST
- i'd like to submit a word that is long overdue.the bugs that explode on your car windshield should be named 'BUGGUTS'.bug guts merged together,there is no current word for them.lets remedy that.if this is not where i need to be to accomplish this,let me know where to go please.thank you...james guthrie
- Reply to this comment
-
(14 Comments)