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Man finishes reading entire Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary is certainly not everyone's idea of a page turner, but a man has just completed the mammoth, if not bizarre, task of reading the 22,000-page book cover to cover.
Ammon Shea, 37, who has been dissecting dictionaries since the age of 10, spent a year absorbing 59 million words, from A to Zyxt - the equivalent of reading a John Grisham novel every day.
Cooped up in the basement of his local library, the removal man from New York would devote up to 10 hours a day painstakingly making his way through all 20 volumes of the OED - helped by cup after cup of very strong coffee. Every time he came across an interesting word, he jotted it down, fearful that he would not remember its meaning.
Among his favourite discoveries were obmutescence (willfully quiet), hypergelast (a person who won't stop laughing), natiform (shaped like buttocks) and deipnosophist (a person who is learned in the art of dining.)
He even wrote a book about his experiences, entitled 'Reading the Oxford English Dictionary: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages'. In it, he recalls a low point when he started learning words beginning with the letter N. "Some days I feel as if I do not actually speak the English language, or understand it with any degree of real comprehension," he said. "It is as if I am visiting a foreign country, armed with one of those silly little tourist phrase book...I may know enough to order a cup of coffee or inquire where the bathroom is."
Many people ask Shea why he would put himself through the ordeal, but the self-confessed lover of words maintains that reading the entire OED was a challenge he set himself many years ago. "The OED, more so than any other dictionary, encompasses the entire history of all English's glories and foibles, the grand concepts and whimsical conceits that make our language what it is today," he said. "It's a great read. It is much more engrossing, enjoyable and moving to read than you would typically think a non-narrative body of text could ever possibly be." The Oxford English Dictionary is certainly not everyone's idea of a page turner, but a man has just completed the mammoth, if not... more -
Bebo founder wants to out-dictionary the dictionary
Michael Birch, who sold Bebo to AOL earlier this year for $850 million, is now planning a social video dictionary.
Birch has teamed up with a television producer, Edward Blake, to create Wordia. The idea is based on the popularity of Wikipedia and YouTube, but leans on the notion idea that people are insanely in love with the English language.
Will it take off? I suppose when you have $850 million in the bank anything is possible. Michael Birch, who sold Bebo to AOL earlier this year for $850 million, is now planning a social video dictionary. ... more -
Electrosmog enters the dictionary
"Electrosmog", "eco-village" and "carbon footprint" are among the new environmental terms which have made it into the latest Chambers Dictionary.
Popular culture has also had an influence, with "wardrobe malfunction" and "fashion forward" also included. "Credit crunch" and "wags", which have recently won places in other dictionaries, also feature. Dictionary editors said the new words painted a "vivid picture of current interests and concerns".
"Electrosmog" refers to the electromagnetic fields emitted by computers and mobile phones, "eco-village" is a term used for small ecologically-sustainable communities and "carbon footprint" is the measure of the impact human activities on the environment. They are joined by two other environmental terms, "food miles" and "green tax", in the 11th edition of the dictionary.
The war on terror also contributes to the edition with "blue-on-blue", referring to friendly fire attacks, "extraordinary rendition", a controversial detention method where a person is moved from one state to another, and "watch list", a list of those being monitored.
From the world of science and technology, "blu-ray", the blue laser used to read and write discs, "quantum computer", a computer that makes use of quantum mechanics, and "metamaterial", an artificially-created material which has properties not found in nature, make the pages.
Along with "wags", the wives and girlfriends of footballers, "wardrobe malfunction" and "fashion forward", meaning someone embracing the newest fashion trends, the influence of popular culture can be seen with the additions of "nail bars" and "social networking".
The growing interest in cuisine also sees Thai food's "pad thai" enter the dictionary as well as "comfort food" and "dashi", a Japanese clear stock made from dried bonito.
Dictionary editor in chief Mary O'Neill said: "The new words we added to this 11th edition of The Chambers Dictionary paint a vivid picture of current interests and concerns." "Electrosmog", "eco-village" and "carbon footprint" are among the new environmental terms which have mad... more -
Word 'chav' to be banned?
People should stop using the word chav, a left-wing think tank has recommended.
The widely-used term is, according to dictionaries, derogatory slang for a young person of low social status, often wearing designer sportswear.
The Fabian Society's Tom Hampson says the term betrays a deep level of "class hatred" and is "deeply offensive to a largely voiceless group".
But Simon Donald, the co-founder of Viz Magazine, said the word was meant to be an insult - and that was fine
Mr Hampson, who is Fabian Society editorial director, says in an article that the word is "sneering and patronising", and compared it to other controversial words such as "faggot" and "pikey".
"Some uses of some words fall below the threshold of acceptability and some are definitely above it.
"Chav is way above that threshold. It is deeply offensive to a largely voiceless group and - especially when used in normal middle-class conversation or on national TV - it betrays a deep and revealing level of class hatred."
And he said "it is distancing, turning the chav into the kind of feral beast that exists only in tabloid headlines".
It was an example of the middle classes using language to belittle the lower classes, he said.
"This is middle class hatred of the white working class, pure and simple."
But Simon Donald of Viz said it was the Fabian Society itself which was patronising.
"Amongst everyone who I can see who uses the term it's meant as a term to put others down and there's always going to be language in society that does that.
"And I think the Fabian Society's attempts to step in and become the voice of the working classes is frankly patronising."
The Oxford English Dictionary classes chav as derogatory British slang.
It is defined as "a young person of a type characterised by brash and loutish behaviour and the wearing of designer-style clothes (esp. sportswear); usually with connotations of a low social status".
What do you reckon? Chav: foul or fair? People should stop using the word chav, a left-wing think tank has recommended. ... more -
'Nerdic' is the fastest growing language in Europe
'Geek speak' has become the fastest growing language in Europe as new words are invented to describe technological advances.
Experts claim about 100 new words are added to the language of technology, dubbed 'Nerdic', every year - three times the number of new words making it into the Oxford English Dictionary. 'Geek speak' has become the fastest growing language in Europe as new words are invented to describe technological advances.... more -
You say Tomato; I say tomatoe, you say potato; I say F**K!
Enjoy swearing? So do celebrities! Check out this hysterical video of some famous faces expressing what their favorite swear word is on camera.
WARNING: This OBVIOUSLY contains graphic language so if you are going to be offended, don't watch! Thanks! ;-) Enjoy swearing? So do celebrities! Check out this hysterical video of some famous faces expressing what their favorite swear word is... more -
A-Z Of Orgasms
A dictionary of sexual orgasms has been released with over a hundred different kinds identified by its author - a mum-of-two. Karen Manning has put together the A to Z with entries including the Quickie, the Oh My God, the Ceiling Scraper...and the ultimate orgasm - the A+. A dictionary of sexual orgasms has been released with over a hundred different kinds identified by its author - a mum-of-two. Karen Ma... more
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Facebook Added To Dictionary
I'm going to facebook you with my facebook!
Yes, the news we've all been waiting for has arrived, Facebook has been included in the 2008 edition of the Collins English Dictionary as both a noun and a verb.
Not content with it's own inclusion, Facebook has muscled in on the words "Pimp" and "poke" forcing new definitions for both to be included.
The dictionary defines "pimp" as the act of making your page more attractive, with "poke" being defined as an attention grabber.
So there you have it, you've been pimped by facebook, poke it back though, otherwise it'll keep facebooking you... I'm going to facebook you with my facebook! ... more -
Merriam-Webster's word of 2007 is...
w00t.
The word is a "hybrid of letters and numbers used by gamers as an exclamation of happiness or triumph, topped all other terms in the Springfield-based dictionary publisher's online poll for the word that best sums up 2007."
w00t w00t!!! w00t. ... more -
Microsoft monopolizes
Microsoft is trying to patent automatic goodbye messages, including "Have a great afternoon!" and "Ciao, Harry!"
Last week, the Redmond software giant tossed an application at the US Patent Office that demands the exclusive rights to a tool that lets you "automatically send a goodbye message when ending a conversation" over IM and VoIP services. Microsoft is trying to patent automatic goodbye messages, including "Have a great afternoon!" and "Ciao, Harry!" ... more -
Literary nerds come to me
Visuwords online graphical dictionary Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Learn how words associate.
Enter words into the search box to look them up or double-click a node to expand the tree. Click and drag the background to pan around and use the mouse wheel to zoom. Hover over nodes to see the definition and click and drag individual nodes to move them around to help clarify connections.
* It's a dictionary! It's a thesaurus!
* Great for writers, journalists, students, teachers, and artists.
* The online dictionary is available wherever theres an internet connection.
* No membership required.
Visuwords uses Princeton Universitys WordNet, an opensource database built by University students and language researchers. Combined with a visualization tool and user interface built from a combination of modern web technologies, Visuwords is available as a free resource to all patrons of the web. Visuwords online graphical dictionary Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce ... more -
Keep Your Friends Close and Your "Frenemies" Closer
I heard Steven Colbert use this on his show the other night. He cracks me up!
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The Visual Dictionary
The Visual Dictionary is a collection of words in the real world. Photographs of signage, graffiti, advertising, tattoos, you name it, we're trying to catalog it.
We started the project in February 2006, and have since racked up over 5000 images of over 3000 words - thanks to everyone who has contributed to date. We're of course, still accepting entries, as the Dictionary should just continue growing forever, but we're starting to think about ways of navigating and browsing images now. The Visual Dictionary is a collection of words in the real world. Photographs of signage, graffiti, advertising, tattoos, you name it,... more
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