the fashionista and his arm candy

[SoylentGreen]

Heard the one about the fashionista and his arm candy who live in parallel universes, prefer chat rooms and text messaging to snail mail, suffer sticker shock at the cost of pashminas and like chick lit or airport novels? This trendy tale is nonsense, of course, but it is now Oxford-approved nonsense. All of these new expressions are among the 3,500 additions to the just- published edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, updated to record new words or new applications of them that have entered the language since its last revision, in 1993 The velocity of change has made the dictionary's customary method of certifying new words or usages positively quaint. "By tradition a word has to be used five times, in five different places, over five years Many of the new additions shed light on the decade's obsessions. There are "wannabe," "aerobicist," "body-piercing," "comb-over," "lipectomy," "body mass index," "orthorexia," "Botox," "Viagra" and "Prozac." "Klingons," "Jedi knights" and the "Force" have fought their way into the book along with other "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" references like "dilithium," "warp drive, "dark side, "mind-meld" and "Luke Skywalker." "Falun Gong" and the "Taliban" enter for the first time, along with "asymmetrical warfare" for the standoff between great powers and less-equipped ones. The dictionary has also attempted to catch up with the language of the streets by including such terms as "bling-bling" and "bad ass." New social concerns account for the inclusion of "economic migrant," "gateway drug" and "asylum seeker." The last edition faithfully recorded "Thatcherism" and "Thatcherite." The new one introduces "Blairism" and "Blairite." Expressions coined for "Bridget Jones' Diary," like "singletons" and "smug marrieds" make it, but under the five- year rule, J.K. Rowling's "muggles" -- to delineate the nonwizards in the world of Harry Potter -- is too recent to slip in. That word is still listed as an American slang term from the early 20th century for marijuana cigarette. A majority of references once came from Britain, but no longer. "America is the biggest and most productive influence on the language now, 'nonplussed, has always meant puzzled and confused, but we have evidence that in America some people use it to mean the opposite, as in 'sort of shaken but not stirred,' like 'He was doing his best to appear nonplussed.' . "It's really a mistaken use," he said.

So do you think the language is actually improving by including these new words?

[Osborn F Enready]

Neu-Speak is here.

Wouldn't Orwell be proud...... :rolleyes:

[Milton Bradley]

I don't think that's actually Neuspeak. Neuspeak is predominantly about replacing unfavorable words.


I think it's good they attempt to keep up. I also get a slight feeling of satisfaction that the know it alls have to brush up on their homework.

[SoylentGreen]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready Neu-Speak is here. Wouldn't Orwell be proud...... :rolleyes:

No new speak by orwell was the opposite.
There the language was being systematically reduced in order to eliminate communication.

Newspeak is a fictional language in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the novel, it is described as being "the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year."

[Osborn F Enready]

I understand what Neu-Speak was in the novel.

I was jibbing, and expressing my dislike for what is happening with the English language.

[SoylentGreen]

jibbing, that sounds bit like new speakish to me.

[Osborn F Enready]

slang my homie, fer shizzle.

[SoylentGreen]

Shizzle? will i find that in the new oxford?
what does it mean?

[Osborn F Enready]

LOL...

Its a new "hip-hop" culture, slang word.

In the sense it was used, it would be like the term "for sure".

[SoylentGreen]

Well I must admit I am seeing a new side to you here osborn.
I kind of thought of you as an old rock and roller rather than a hip hopper.
Can't imagine you wearing bling :)

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: SoylentGreen Well I must admit I am seeing a new side to you here osborn. I kind of thought of you as an old rock and roller rather than a hip hopper. Can't imagine you wearing bling :)

Knowledge doesn't imply consent.


Silence implies consent.

[SoylentGreen]

Milton Bradley Knowledge doesn't imply consent.

But using it does. And he used those words.

[Osborn F Enready]

LOL....

Soylent, with all due respect, I use a lot of language, much of which isn't useable on internet forums.

I do a lot of accents in jest, and often mock things I find amusing, but not in an insulting way.

I am not a "hip-hopper" in the least, and my rap listening days died circa 1992, when commercial rap took over.

My music prefrences are very wide, but rap and hip-hop are not in there, except for a few selected songs.

I like Mozart to Sarah McLachlan....
Lynyrd Skynyrd to Hank Williams Jr.
Elton John to Metallica....
and most things in between.

I am a music conniseur of my own individual tastes, but I in no way endorse or seriously use hip-hop slang except in jest.

I don't even wear a watch, let alone "bling". The last jewelry I wore was wedding ring, the only ring I have ever worn except a High School Class Ring.

Anyway, I wanted to make this clear as well as express my amusement.