Comments on: Geeks get a word in with Merriam-Webster

Geek culture once again shows its influence over the mainstream lexicon with the latest version of Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. New entries include fanboy, netroots, and webinar.

[theonlybuster]

Woot woot... 1 step closer to world domination

[LunaticSX]

"Fanboy" comes from comic books and science fiction fandom, though--think of all the "fanboys" (and "fangirls") standing in line for Star Wars. That came long before the line-waiting for Steve Jobs keynotes and the iPhone.

[eccesignum]

Not sure what the fuss is about 'mondegreen' (this is the third article I've read about it). It's been around a while. Dictionary.com cites the Random House Unabridged Dictionary (c) 2006, and I've seen it in paper dictionaries before then.

[Kev Orng]

I like Mondegreen too, but it's an old one.

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.

[Dolphie1]

Interesting that you felt a need to interject bash politics into a discussion pertaining to vocabulary.
[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.

[Kev Orng]

@dolphie,
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.

[jamesivie]

"poison words that damage reasonable communication". Yes, let's start making certain words illegal. That will solve everything. Obviously a liberal.

[Kev Orng]

Hyperbole and straw-man fallacy, nice! I love this stuff.

[jimmy1jimmy2]

I've recently liked "Moran" - a sarcastic/ironic way to call someone a moron. Usually they are too stupid to get the joke. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=moran

[gazzc]

Jimi, in one live concert, and to my ears at least, specifically uses the "Kiss this guy" form of the line in Purple Haze mentioned in this article.
That said, I don't know if he'd based it on the common "mondegreen" or used it regardless of external influence.

[newe1344]

w00t! Soon high school tourneys will be played in video games and "Jocks" will be Geeks with controllers instead of muscles.

[Motyoj]

I'm having beef and noodles for dinner. Mmm...Oh, wait. Does that make a beef and noodle fanboy? Oh well, so be it.

[Wolfie2k5]

Only if you think that your beef and noodles are better than the beef and noodles made by anyone else and will argue the concept until you're blue in the face that everyone should follow your recipie for beef and noodles (or purchase whatever brand you like), irrationally until the men with the butterfly nets come to take you away - ha ha ho ho - hee hee...

[woodso2]

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