I'll willing to go out on a limb and place a bet that L33T will never make it into the OED, and I'll even be shocked if LMAO did...

I'm not at all surprised LOL and OMG did though, and WTF should really be there at some point.

I think it's a shame that stupid acronyms make it into the OED. Even the millionth word if I remember correctly, whilst not an acronym, was pretty damn stupid.
Common use, urban dictionary, whatever; shouldn't mean they get in.

And no, I'm not trolling, I just think it's stupid.

Something died in me... a little bit. Oh, I know what it was: the part that loves the English language.

... back to reading some Poe, or Lovecraft, or Machen, or Dunsany.

I'm be so f'ing angry if that they started including leet speak in the dictionary. After that it'd be text talk. *Shakes fist*

I know times are a-changin' and in a few hundred years they'll look back at our culture but still, it feels wrong.

Originally Posted by perplekks45
Something died in me... a little bit. Oh, I know what it was: the part that loves the English language.

... back to reading some Poe, or Lovecraft, or Machen, or Dunsany.

But no Shakespeare right? Comments like the above are so stupid, especially in the context of the English language which is already packed with borrowed words from other languages. If you want a language that never changes l2french

All those complaining about putting new words in dictionaries - it's not the dictionary shaping the language, it is the language shaping the dictionary. Dictionary is not something abstract, disconnected from reality. If instead of me everyone will start using mi, then mi will be in dictionary. It is as simple as that.

English language (and every language, maybe except esperanto) is what you speak, not what is in dictionary.

Yeah there's nothing special about how we speak English today. It was completely unrecognisable as a language hundreds of years ago and will probably be unrecognisable hundreds of years from now. Don't get me wrong I do get annoyed by its misuse but it is something that is constantly in flux.

Originally Posted by CanItRunSoldat?
But no Shakespeare right? Comments like the above are so stupid, especially in the context of the English language which is already packed with borrowed words from other languages. If you want a language that never changes l2french

1st: No Shakespeare. I just don't like his story lines. Hate me now.
2nd: French doesn't change? Le weekend, shakehand (FR) instead of hand-shake (EN), footing (FR) instead of walking (EN),rugbyman (FR) instead of rugby-player (EN), crossman (FR) instead of cross-country runner (EN).

Thanks for calling me (or my comments) stupid, mate.

If they are gonna put any acronyms in the OED, then I don't see why commonly used ones like LOL, OMG ect should not be in there. I think their system is reasonable too; wait ten years to make sure it's still commonly used and also that it's recognizable to all groups of people that absorb language either via TV, printed media, electronic media or a combination of all.

Besides if LOL is in the OED then maybe some of the older generation will come to see it does not mean 'lots of love' to the rest of us.

Originally Posted by faugusztin

English language (and every language, maybe except esperanto) is what you speak, not what is in dictionary.

You gotta hate those that actully say 'lol' as a word though!

I actually spent most of this article wondering what L33T was short for! Elite? Really?

Sure is.... :(

When did we drop the asterixes for actions in online writing? *g*
Or *l* or *lol*
Getting old on the web sure gets old

personally I think it's retarded that it's been put in there.

OMG TL:DR, OED, WTF?

I find it quite interesting that LOL, OMG and WTF are used casually even in non-English speaking countries. Here in Finland even the newspapers may occasionally drop them in some Finnish sentence.

These so called "networds" should not be in the dictionary.

What can we say to see trolls in forums now!

Originally Posted by Javerh
I find it quite interesting that LOL, OMG and WTF are used casually even in non-English speaking countries. Here in Finland even the newspapers may occasionally drop them in some Finnish sentence.

That sir is because Finland is a strange strange country ;)

It's meant, as the guy said, to be an accurate history of the English language... if LOL and OMG are in current usage, then it must be placed into the dictionary.

If you were a historian, looking at a television episode or a newspaper article in 100 or 200 years' time you may have no idea what LOL or OMG means, and therefore you'll look it up in your trusty OED. Whether it 'deserves' a place or not, whether it should be part of the wonderful English language is irrelevant.

If on the other hand, only three guys off the internet are using a certain word, it's probably not going to be a useful resource to anyone in the future, and it won't be put in. Even if it looks and sounds like a piece of literature all by itself.

Well it wasn't net speak in World War II but morse code speak. The most well known was probably S.O.S. (Save Our Souls/ Save Our Ship).

languages evolve and that is why we no longer say doth and thou

personally i don't like 'leet' speak, but if enough people use it, it becomes part of our language.


looking back over that last sentence i'm sure some people thought it repulsive when abbreviations were introduced (do not becomes don't)

Ok, so you've had your fun with this article now back to reviewing hardware please

As a snapshot of the use of language, I think this article should be preserved in print - so include it the magazine.

Yo dawg!
I can't wait to see the "nigga's dictonar" wich will contain:

nigga, ambalamps, yo dawg, broda, sista, etc

Just out of curiosity, sometime ago, like two years, thare was agroup of people trying to get the schools to teach the "afro american" language.

Even black folks were against it.

Originally Posted by Yemerich
Yo dawg!
I can't wait to see the "nigga's dictonar" wich will contain:

nigga, ambalamps, yo dawg, broda, sista, etc

Just out of curiosity, sometime ago, like two years, thare was agroup of people trying to get the schools to teach the "afro american" language.

Even black folks were against it.

I seriously hope your kidding..

Originally Posted by Yemerich
Yo dawg!
I can't wait to see the "nigga's dictonar" wich will contain:

nigga, ambalamps, yo dawg, broda, sista, etc

Just out of curiosity, sometime ago, like two years, thare was agroup of people trying to get the schools to teach the "afro american" language.

Even black folks were against it.

WTF?

Originally Posted by Yemerich
Yo dawg!
I can't wait to see the "nigga's dictonar" wich will contain:

nigga, ambalamps, yo dawg, broda, sista, etc

Just out of curiosity, sometime ago, like two years, thare was agroup of people trying to get the schools to teach the "afro american" language.

Even black folks were against it.

The vast majority of that is just a matter of pronunciation... no different to 'teaching Geordie'.

If it's genuine, widely used dialect, rather than pronunciation, then it should go in.