本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛What do derecho, obesogenic and hen all have in common? According to The Global Language Monitor (GLM), they are newly popular — or newly formed — words that may become part of the regular vernacular in 2013.
“As soon as a word is used by more than one person, it becomes part of the English language,” said Yin Liu, associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Arts and Science.
An expert in the study of the English language, Liu said getting a word to become an “official” part of the English language isn’t as clear-cut as simply adding it to a dictionary.
Often a word has been in use years before it shows up in the printed version of the dictionary,” said Liu.
According to Liu, for a word to be considered “official” it has to be traceable. For instance, the word “gridlock” can be traced to traffic workers in New York in the ’80s.
Social media has sped up new word development at incredible rates, says Paul JJ Payack, president of GLM. As an example, he brings up the weatherman who online described hurricane Sandy as a “Frankenstrom,” which was then repeated over 90 million times within a week.
“We estimate about 14.7 new words are created a day,” said Payack.
Three new words to try out in 2013
The following words are gaining popularity and may become part of the regular vernacular in 2013. Before casually dropping them in party conversations, find out what they mean:
Obesogenic — An environment that tends to encourage obesity. It has been gaining popularity when describing advertisements that sell sugary, high calorie snacks to kids.
Derecho — Also known as a ‘land hurricane’ — a sudden storm with extremely strong one-directional winds
Hen — The Swedish word aimed at creating a gender-neutral pronoun to replace him or her.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
“As soon as a word is used by more than one person, it becomes part of the English language,” said Yin Liu, associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Arts and Science.
An expert in the study of the English language, Liu said getting a word to become an “official” part of the English language isn’t as clear-cut as simply adding it to a dictionary.
Often a word has been in use years before it shows up in the printed version of the dictionary,” said Liu.
According to Liu, for a word to be considered “official” it has to be traceable. For instance, the word “gridlock” can be traced to traffic workers in New York in the ’80s.
Social media has sped up new word development at incredible rates, says Paul JJ Payack, president of GLM. As an example, he brings up the weatherman who online described hurricane Sandy as a “Frankenstrom,” which was then repeated over 90 million times within a week.
“We estimate about 14.7 new words are created a day,” said Payack.
Three new words to try out in 2013
The following words are gaining popularity and may become part of the regular vernacular in 2013. Before casually dropping them in party conversations, find out what they mean:
Obesogenic — An environment that tends to encourage obesity. It has been gaining popularity when describing advertisements that sell sugary, high calorie snacks to kids.
Derecho — Also known as a ‘land hurricane’ — a sudden storm with extremely strong one-directional winds
Hen — The Swedish word aimed at creating a gender-neutral pronoun to replace him or her.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net