The English language has never stopped growing. Every year the companies that produce dictionaries have to decide which new words have gained enough usage to be added to their tomes. I personally have a dictionary, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, which has 2,230 pages in it. But I still come across words in my reading that aren't in it.
For example, in reading a Smithsonian Magazine piece titled "Vintage Viral" I came across the word "listicle". This intrigued me, since I write another blog titled MiLISTS and each edition is basically a list following an introductory theme. They could be called "listicles", articles in list format. But, someone more clever than I - the article writer, named Britt Peterson - came up with this lovely word I can now use to describe that blog.
"Cyberspace" is another lovely word. It is relatively new to dictionaries, having been coined by futurist novelist William Gibson, who foresaw most of the digital revolution.
Before cyberspace - where viral content moves at a rate that has even surprised the experts, and the word "listicle" could go viral in a matter of hours on the Internet - such a word could be printed in 500 newspapers and magazines, and reprinted 50 times from each, and still not become common usage.
Another much-used term now is "global warming". It was coined by Columbia University scientist Wally Broecker in a 1975 article in the journal Science.
One more, just getting started, is "acquihires". I noticed it in Fast Company Magazine, April 2015, used by Dropbox owner Drew Houston. It means "new employees acquired by raiding other companies personnel".
Another term, which I recently coined, came about by being warned about a bad vacation spot. I called it "vacautioned". I doubt it will make any of the dictionaries, but I'm rather proud of it.
Some words gain added attention by being used in a new way. Cover Girl Company, for instance, has put out nine shades of iridescent finish lipstick, calling them "lip lava". Clever connotation?
Word acceptance, of course, is never automatic. This is sometimes puzzling. The Eskimos, for instance, have had 52 names for snow, because it is important to them. But shouldn't there be just as many for "love"?
And there are other things difficult to describe that don't have designator words for them. Maybe you can help. Like describing a circular staircase without having to use your hands. Or describing a man with a goatee without having to fondle your chin. Got any clever thoughts?
