1 in 10 in a survey think HTML is an STD

From the LA Times:

If you're talking tech with Americans, you may want to avoid using any jargon.
A recent study found that many Americans are lost when it comes to tech-related terms, with 11% in a survey saying that they thought HTML — a language that is used to create websites — was a sexually transmitted disease.
The study was conducted by Vouchercloud.net, a coupons website, as a way to determine how knowledgeable users are when it comes to tech terms.

Green's Dictionary of Slang: An Appeal

Re: "Jonathon Green's [no relation] wonderfully comprehensive three-volume reference work, Green's Dictionary of Slang (GDoS to its friends):

It's a never-ending challenge to keep up with the latest developments in the world of slang, but that is the lexicographer’s lot. Green plans to put his dictionary online for continuous revision, which is indeed the direction that many major reference works (including the O.E.D.) are now taking. In the meantime, his monument to the inventiveness of speakers from Auckland to Oakland takes its place as the pièce de résistance of English slang studies. To put it plain, it’s copacetic.

Now, at year's end, it turns out that Green's plan to make GDoS available online has run into some trouble. He asked me to post the following appeal on Language Log, responses to which should be directed to him.

More here.

Words added to the OED

'Muffin top' added to Oxford English Dictionary

The latest update of the OED, published on 24 March 2011, revises more than 1,900 entries and adds new words from across the dictionary.

Language and the Brain: What Makes Us Human

No other species on the planet uses language or writing — a mystery that remains unsolved even after thousands of years of research. Now neuroscientists are taking advantage of powerful new ways to peer into the brain to provide remarkable insights into this unique human ability.

Do you trip over your words, struggle to listen to a dinner companion in a noisy restaurant, or find it difficult to understand a foreign accent on TV? Help may be on the way. Using powerful new research tools, scientists have begun to unravel the long-standing mystery of how the human brain processes and understands speech.

36th Annual List of Banished Words Goes "Viral"

It may have been word of the year in some wheelhouses, but "refudiate" wasn't looked upon favorably by many who sent in nominations for Lake Superior State University's 36th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness, which was released on New Year's Eve.

In a busy U.S. election year, "the American People" told LSSU they were tired of not only "refudiate," but also "mama grizzlies" who wanted their opponents to "man up."

But words and phrases related to technology and the way we communicate dominated the list for 2011, including "viral," "epic," "fail," and the use of websites "Facebook" and "Google" as verbs. "Viral" received the most nominations.

The "back story" on LSSU's popular list began on Jan. 1, 1976, when former LSSU Public Relations Director Bill Rabe and a group of friends each contributed a few expressions that they disliked to form the first list. After that, the nominations stacked up for future lists and Rabe's group, known then as The Unicorn Hunters, didn't have to make up its own list again. LSSU receives well over 1,000 nominations annually through its website.

And now, here's a look at the 2011 list. Get ready for the "wow factor!" It's full of "epic" "a-ha moments" that are sure to go "viral." It's a no-"fail" list that you'll be "facebooking" and "googling" with your "BFFs." "Just sayin'."


The complete announcement contains comments from a few of the people who nominated each term.

The 2011 List
+ Viral
+ Epic
+ Fail
+ Wow Factor
+ A-Ha Moment
+ Back Story
+ BFF
+ Man Up
+ Refudiate
+ Mama Grizzlies
+ The American People
+ Google and Facebook (as Verbs)
+ Live Life To The Fullest

Archive of Previous Lists

Alphabetical Compilation of Words From All Lists (1976-2010)

Here's http://www.lssu.edu/banished/archive/2010.phpthe 2010 List
+ Shovel-Ready
+ Transparent/Transparency
+ Czar
+ Tweet
+ App
+ Sexting
+ Teachable Moment
+ In These Economic Times….
+ Stimulus
+ Toxic Assets
+ Too Big To Fail
+ Bromance
+ Chillaxin'
+ Obama-prefix or roots?

Monitor New Words/Phrases via Schott’s Vocab

From Ben Schott’s Web Site (New York Times):

Schott’s Vocab is a repository of unconsidered lexicographical trifles - some serious, others frivolous, some neologized, others newly newsworthy.

Each day, Schott’s Vocab explores news sites around the world to find words and phrases that encapsulate the times in which we live or shed light on a story of note.

If language is the archives of history, as Emerson believed, then Schott’s Vocab is an attempt to index those archives on the fly.

The Oxford English Dictionary added several new words to their publication. That complete list can be accessed online here.

New Words include:

+ amateur night, n. and adj.

+ bailout, n.2

+ blizzard, v.

+ bupkis, n.

+ Clintonista, n.

+ commitment-phobe, n.

+ dwarf planet, n.

+ grilled cheese, n.

+ searchability, n.

+ turducken, n.

Oxford English Dictionary Updates and Adds New Words

On 12 March 2009 the New Edition was updated with revised entries in a series of discrete alphabetical ranges, as well as the addition of new entries from across the alphabet. In some ranges, not every entry was revised, as editorial effort was concentrated on the most significant groups of related words.

Panel reverses English-only policy for libraries

The Frederick County (MD) Commissioners voted to eliminate an English-only restriction on audio books bought by the Frederick County Public Libraries.

Four commissioners voted on the issue Tuesday after Commissioner Kai Hagen asked the board to reconsider the policy.