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Out with the old......

Remember when a crossword could be quickly answered with the aid of one of the staples of modern English such as the Oxford or Collins dictionaries?

Not so in this day and age (unless, perhaps you're doing the Times cryptic) because of the rise and rise of a new breed of English that is multiplying as quickly as the industry that has spawned it.

While a number of the 'old world' dictionaries have made the jump to light speed and have a presence in the on line world, there is a new breed emerging and they are embracing neologism - the creation of new words or phrases - with far wider arms than their predecessors.

The process for getting a new word into a paper dictionary is   difficult indeed.  The entry criteria is strict and often requires a word to be in common usage for up to a decade before its inclusion is considered let alone approved.

Not so online dictionaries which have huge advantages in editing terms. Words can be published at the simple push of a button. Accessibility is also a big benefit - try popping your Webster's into your pocket instead of your PDA (personal digital assistant) as a take anywhere reference.  Better still, try sneaking your dictionary into a quiz night and discretely referencing it under the table.

The technology boom over the last 30 years has provided us with a landslide of new terminology. E-mail, blog and chip are now old hat and in common use by the great majority of us on a daily basis. In reality these terms have only been with us for a comparatively short space of time.

Some more recent additions make interesting reading:

Adminisphere - 'management'. Decisions that fall from the "adminisphere" are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve.

Mouselexia - The inability to use a mouse correctly. Some people are naturally "mouselexic," while others are struck with mouselexia only when an expert is looking over their shoulder.

Wallhumper - Office slang for a person who raises their hip in an effort to swipe their electronic data card against a reader to open a door (instead of taking it out of the plastic holder and swiping it by hand).

Wardriving - The act of driving around looking for an unsecured wireless network to break into.

Zipperhead - A person with a closed mind.

And of course something close to my heart.........

Nerd - similar to a geek (a person who knows a lot about the Internet), but this is more of a brainy person who knows everything there is to know about computers. People used to make fun of those who were considered to be nerds, but now the term is considered a badge of honor (especially when the wealthiest man in America is a full-fledged nerd

If you too are ready to make the jump to light speed and join the online dictionary revolution (or even if you feel like cheating at a quiz night with your phone) get online and check out the multitude of online dictionaries, thesauruses and encyclopedias.  A couple of goodies are:

www.doubletongued.org
www.netlingo.com
www.urbandictionary.com
www.wiktionary.org