Who Says Language is Boring?

Anyone who plays Scrabble or Words With Friends can tell you, there's no such thing as enough words.  When you are playing these kinds of games, the more words you have in your vocabulary, the better you can play.  I know I certainly am learning a lot of new words I would never have considered to BE words if I hadn't started playing WWF with a couple of people.

I, for one, am intrigued by the way the English language changes constantly, not just by adopting words and terms from other languages, but by inventing new ones.  I remember reading a book by Andrew Clements a few years ago called Frindle.  Its the story of a boy who gets into an argument with his English teacher about whether or not the language could be changed any more.  In order to prove her wrong, he gets a few of his friends to use the word 'frindle' for that thing you write with that uses ink.  I won't tell you any more, other than to say its a fun, quick read.  Sorry, but its a professional perogative to get you to read the book!  Check it out at your local Library.

Well, now it’s that special time of the year for lexicographers (you know, those are people who just LOVE to keep track of and compile those big, fancy words).

This past week, Merriam-Webster announced its annual list of the newest additions to its Collegiate Dictionary.  This year, however, there was a bomb included—more specifically, the term “F-bomb.”


The term “F-bomb” makes it into the dictionary for the first time, even though it has been printed in newspapers for more than 20 years, according to an article by the Associated Press.

In addition, the words ‘sexting,’ ‘flexitarian,’ ‘obesogenic,’ ‘energy drink,’ and ‘life coach’ also make it into the official lexicon, along with about 94 additional words.

Before a word can be added to the lexicon, the company, based in Springfield, MA, tracks it for several years noting its use in media and general society. In the case of ‘F-bomb’ (not the F word itself), the term was traced back to a 1988 Newsday story where Mets catcher Gary Carter talked about how he had stopped using them and then in stories about a locker room tirade by Bobby Knight in the late 1990’s which was filled with expletives. These expletives were reported as ‘F-bombs’ to avoid the word itself and thereby get around any censorship issues. The same thing happened in 2004 when Dick Cheney dropped the word in the Senate and again when Joe Biden did the same thing in 2010. So, although some dictionaries and other sources have listed the word before this, Merriam-Webster is just now adding it and making it official.

Other terms and words that have made the list include:

Sexting (the sending of provocative images as text), Flexitarian (a person “whose normally meatless diet occasionally includes meat or fish”), Obesogenic (refers to an environment where something or some pattern promotes weight gain or produces obesity), Underwater (owing more on a mortgage than the property is worth), Toxic (as in an asset that has lost so much value that it cannot be sold on the market), Earworm (that annoying melody you can't stop thinking about), Craft Beer (beverages made in small batches by small or amateur brewers), e-Reader (devices on which readers can read books, magazines and newspapers in electronic format), Game Changer (something which forces people or situations to go in a different direction).

Others include: Man Cave, brain cramp, bucket list, 'aha' moment, 'systemic risk,' ', Gastropub, Geocaching, Shovel-ready (a construction site ready for work), Tipping Point, and a new definition for 'Gassed' as a slang term for drained of energy.

Back to School Time!

Here I go again!  I'm going to leave this as an open listing of links appropriate for Back to School.  As I find them, I'll keep adding them.  All you need to do is click on the link.

Opening Day Ideas from the National Education Association.

Top Teen Reads

I seem to post more links than original posts, but here's another one!  :-)

Anyway, NPR recently had an article about the top 100 books for Young Adults.  I was quite impressed with the list which included classics (expected) and very new (surprisingly pleased) titles.  Take a look.  I think you'll be pleased with the options.