WILL THE "REAL" WORD PLEASE STAND UP?
How many times have you heard someone say, "That's not even a real word!"
"A real word? I said it, didn't I?"
If the conversation deteriorates with the statement, "It's not in the dictionary," you can be sure you are dealing with an amateur. Go ahead and ask the key question. "Since when has being in the dictionary the criterion for a word being real vs. fake?"
Answer: "Never."
According to Lexicographer Erin McKean and her team at Wordnik, 52% of English words aren’t in major dictionaries. That is an amazing number considering that Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, together with its 1993 Addenda Section, includes some 470,000 entries. The Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, reports that it includes a similar number.
Even more amazing is the estimate -- Made using a Ouija Board? -- that there claims there are one million English words (many of them real). Some experts insist the number should be at least a quarter million higher.
REAL OR FAKE? TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
How many times have you heard someone say, "That's not even a real word!"
"A real word? I said it, didn't I?"
If the conversation deteriorates with the statement, "It's not in the dictionary," you can be sure you are dealing with an amateur. Go ahead and ask the key question. "Since when has being in the dictionary the criterion for a word being real vs. fake?"
Answer: "Never."
According to Lexicographer Erin McKean and her team at Wordnik, 52% of English words aren’t in major dictionaries. That is an amazing number considering that Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, together with its 1993 Addenda Section, includes some 470,000 entries. The Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, reports that it includes a similar number.
Even more amazing is the estimate -- Made using a Ouija Board? -- that there claims there are one million English words (many of them real). Some experts insist the number should be at least a quarter million higher.
REAL OR FAKE? TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
I found two basic approaches to new words. First, if a pronounceable sound comes out of a human mouth and the sound means something, even to only one person, it is a real word. After all, every word begins as a made-up word. Whether or not it becomes a common word through usage, is one issue. Another is whether or not it is entered into a dictionary. But it is "real."
The other slant on new words is that new words are made-up and not real, therefore they are fake. These made-up words appear to be real, but actually don't exist and don't have any meaning. They initially appear real because they can be pronounced which makes it seem like they would be real words. Here are some samples of what the experts consider fake words. Image source: www.easyvectors.com
The other slant on new words is that new words are made-up and not real, therefore they are fake. These made-up words appear to be real, but actually don't exist and don't have any meaning. They initially appear real because they can be pronounced which makes it seem like they would be real words. Here are some samples of what the experts consider fake words. Image source: www.easyvectors.com
Dullema - (duh-‘leh-muh) n.--The choice between two equally boring outcomes.
Cellfish - (‘sel-fish) n.—Someone who talks on the phone to the exclusion of those he or she is with.
Foupe - This fake word actually showed up in a dictionary at one point! In 1755, back when people wrote long S’s, which looked
like F’s, a dictionary editor misread “soupe” as "foupe” and mistakenly put the latter in the dictionary.
None of the articles I read explain what happens to these fake words after they are created.
WHAT’S A NEOLOGISM?
The definition of neologism is a new word -- one invented or coined that has never been used before. The etymological origins of the term are Greek for “new” and “word.”
Many new words come from new technologies and disciplines, but they can also be invented, most often by authors and writers but also comedians and people in the performing arts. Those words, often called slang, reach a large audience and may catch on quickly.
William Shakespeare is one of the foremost neologists who is credited with creating over 1,700 new words in the English language by combining existing words into one, adapting usage, using verbs as nouns, etc. At that time, stage plays were one of the primary sources of entertainment and thus reached a broad audience.
By the way, "neologist " is not yet in the dictionary.
One Lexicographer calls fake or made-up words by the terms “madeupical” and "nonce formations" (words which are coined by one person, but which never get more widely used). But shouldn't every new word be given a chance to succeed?
New words are contrived by different means, including but not limited to:
1. Absorption of a foreign word into English (with or without the same spelling, pronunciation, or meaning).
2. Creation of an Anglicized word from a foreign word (again, with or without the same meaning, but English spelling).
3. Combination of two separate words smooched together, such as humongous or ginormous, which mean more or less the same thing, or which mean something totally different.
4. Exclusion of a letter or two (usually at beginning or end), such as Vacay which is simply the shortened word for vacation (used since 1991).
5. Exclusion of a letter plus a more updated or slang definition, such as the slang word "rando", which used to mean "random". Editor Tina Donvito speculates that "Apparently pronouncing one letter more in the already slang use of the word random is too much for today’s youth". https://www.rd.com/list/slang-words-in-the-dictionary/
In years past, “random” trended as a way to express dismay at something that was unexpected or unwelcome, but “rando” finesses the disparaging slang into noun form: “Some rando just showed up at the party.” (A change in the part of speech).
6. Addition of a new definition, such as with "stinger" which now refers to the short scene that you see during or after the closing credits of a movie or TV program. "Hophead" is now also a person who likes to drink beer.
7. Substitution of an abbreviation in place of a word or words, as in the newly added abbreviation "TL;DR". I mean, why waste breath saying, "Too Long; Didn't Read"? But didn't you save a lot of time by not reading it?
Merriam-Webster reminds us that the word "acronym” only refers to an abbreviation that’s pronounced as a word, such as UNICEF or POTUS.
8. Modification of an existing word but with a different pronunciation, spelling, or both.
I'm sure there are many more ways that words become real, but these were all my brain could handle. See how many other ways you can think of. Just for the fun of it, make up some words. Are the fake or real?
WHAT’S A LEXICOGRAPHER?
A "logophile" is someone with a passion for words. A lexicographer is a person who compiles dictionaries as their profession. Lexicographers also get to decide which words make it into the dictionary, and what terms go into slang dictionaries. A dictionary is a "living document" which is being revised and updated constantly by living people.
THE FIRST DICTIONARY
The earliest dictionaries were created by the 1st century Greeks, and emphasized the changes in the meanings of words over time. Later, the close juxtaposition of languages in Europe led to the appearance, from the early Middle Ages on, of many bilingual and multilingual dictionaries. www.britannica.com/dictionary
The first English dictionary was Robert Cawdrey’s A Table Alphabetical, published in 1604, which contained around 3,000 words. A Dictionary of the English Language, by Samuel Johnson, was published as Johnson's Dictionary on 15 April 1755.
Image Source: www.bing.com/images/SameulJohnson
It was commissioned by a group of London booksellers in 1746 and written by Samuel Johnson single-handedly. It took seven years. He produced several revised editions during his lifetime. This dictionary is among the most influential in the history of the English language.
While chronologically this work was not the first, Johnson grounded his wordlist in the works of English authors, as well as describing subtle shades of meaning in numbered senses, and providing extensive quotations showing the words in context. These innovations make this the first English dictionary of its kind.
HOW WORDS GET INTO THE DICTIONARY
The simple answer is, well, it's simple: USAGE. When we get down to the process, however, it's more complicated.
While chronologically this work was not the first, Johnson grounded his wordlist in the works of English authors, as well as describing subtle shades of meaning in numbered senses, and providing extensive quotations showing the words in context. These innovations make this the first English dictionary of its kind.
HOW WORDS GET INTO THE DICTIONARY
The simple answer is, well, it's simple: USAGE. When we get down to the process, however, it's more complicated.
Word Search
This is not the quick computerized word search you may be familiar with. To decide which words to include in the dictionary and to determine what they mean, editors called Definers spend at least two hours a day reading a broad cross-section of published materials, including newspapers, books, magazines and
A Definer at work electronic publications.
Image Source: WebStockReview 2024.
The Editor-Definer searches all these materials every day for new words, new usages of existing words, various spellings, inflected forms, meanings, and so on which might help deciding if a word belongs in the dictionary. Words of interest are marked.
This is not the quick computerized word search you may be familiar with. To decide which words to include in the dictionary and to determine what they mean, editors called Definers spend at least two hours a day reading a broad cross-section of published materials, including newspapers, books, magazines and
A Definer at work electronic publications.
Image Source: WebStockReview 2024.
The Editor-Definer searches all these materials every day for new words, new usages of existing words, various spellings, inflected forms, meanings, and so on which might help deciding if a word belongs in the dictionary. Words of interest are marked.
Citations
All the marked passages are then input into a computer system and stored both in machine-readable form and on 3" x 5" slips of paper to create citations. Merriam-Webster's citation files, begun in the 1880s, now contain 15.7 million examples of
Image Source: www.grammarly. words used in context.
com/citations/
Yowza! Does this mean they store nearly 16 million slips of 3"x 5" paper? It boggles the mind.
Image Source: www.gusto.com/gopayroll/058-gentm
All the marked passages are then input into a computer system and stored both in machine-readable form and on 3" x 5" slips of paper to create citations. Merriam-Webster's citation files, begun in the 1880s, now contain 15.7 million examples of
Image Source: www.grammarly. words used in context.
com/citations/
Yowza! Does this mean they store nearly 16 million slips of 3"x 5" paper? It boggles the mind.
Image Source: www.gusto.com/gopayroll/058-gentm
Each citation contains the following elements:
1. The word itself,
2. An example of the words used in context,
3. Bibliographic information about the source from which the word and example were taken.
Citations are also available to editors in a searchable text database, called a corpus, that includes more than 70 million words from a vast variety of sources.
Citation to Entry
So far our words are in a data-base and on little pieces of paper. The process of going from citation to entry starts with the dictionary Definers reviewing groups of citations for one small part of the alphabet (eg. gri-gro) plus entries that are currently being reviewed for update.
The definer's job is to determine which existing entries can remain essentially unchanged, which entries need to be revised, which entries can be dropped, and which new entries should be added. In each case, the definer decides on the best course of action to be taken, such as adjusting entries or creating new ones.
1. The word itself,
2. An example of the words used in context,
3. Bibliographic information about the source from which the word and example were taken.
Citations are also available to editors in a searchable text database, called a corpus, that includes more than 70 million words from a vast variety of sources.
Citation to Entry
So far our words are in a data-base and on little pieces of paper. The process of going from citation to entry starts with the dictionary Definers reviewing groups of citations for one small part of the alphabet (eg. gri-gro) plus entries that are currently being reviewed for update.
The definer's job is to determine which existing entries can remain essentially unchanged, which entries need to be revised, which entries can be dropped, and which new entries should be added. In each case, the definer decides on the best course of action to be taken, such as adjusting entries or creating new ones.
Rejection
Before a new word can be added to the dictionary, it must have enough citations to show that it is widely used. Too many citations may make the word difficult to define.
A word may get rejected due to inadequate general usage, if all its citations come from a single source, or if they are all from highly specialized publications that reflect the jargon of experts within a single field. Many words have been in use for a long time but may not have been used in a substantial number of citations that come from a wide-enough range of publications over a considerable period of time. Don't worry, 52% haven't made it yet.
During the COVID pandemic, new words and medical terms appeared on the scene almost immediately. Obviously, the usage was broad and spread rapidly, so the time to go from citation to dictionary entry was abnormally short.
SIZE DOES MATTER
The size and type of dictionary also affects how many citations a word needs to gain admission. Dictionaries do have limited space, so in many only the most commonly used words can be entered. Annually, that is about 1,000 new words. There are a few words that drop out because they are no longer used, but those do not offset the new words being added.
To address part of the problem, there are many specialized dictionaries which deal with one subject, such as medical terms, biblical references, music, etc.
EVEN EDITORS MAKE MISTAKES
Before a new word can be added to the dictionary, it must have enough citations to show that it is widely used. Too many citations may make the word difficult to define.
A word may get rejected due to inadequate general usage, if all its citations come from a single source, or if they are all from highly specialized publications that reflect the jargon of experts within a single field. Many words have been in use for a long time but may not have been used in a substantial number of citations that come from a wide-enough range of publications over a considerable period of time. Don't worry, 52% haven't made it yet.
During the COVID pandemic, new words and medical terms appeared on the scene almost immediately. Obviously, the usage was broad and spread rapidly, so the time to go from citation to dictionary entry was abnormally short.
SIZE DOES MATTER
The size and type of dictionary also affects how many citations a word needs to gain admission. Dictionaries do have limited space, so in many only the most commonly used words can be entered. Annually, that is about 1,000 new words. There are a few words that drop out because they are no longer used, but those do not offset the new words being added.
To address part of the problem, there are many specialized dictionaries which deal with one subject, such as medical terms, biblical references, music, etc.
EVEN EDITORS MAKE MISTAKES
Of course, editors are human and everyone makes mistakes. Words get into the dictionary that are fake words, words made up as a joke -- such as the longest word, or simply misspelled by accident. One of the best known Dictionary Error occurred when compiling the 1934 Webster’s New International Dictionary. A card for an abbreviation coded “D or d” (where the capital D was used as short for "density") ended up in the dictionary as the word "dord" meaning "density." No one even noticed for five years. There are also instances when words which should have been included were simply left out by mistake, one went missing for fifty year before it made its dictionary appearance. "bondmaid".
DISCLAIMER
This description of the process substantially comes from a publication by Merriam-Webster dated 2010. I found no updates and only a few other articles, all dated around the same time. Although there are parts of the procedure that require good old human eyes and brains, it's hard to believe libraries are not taking advantage of the most up-to-date technology available.
We (humans) are irreplaceable ... for now. Imagine a totally AI-created dictionary! What fun
words it might contain. We can barely communicate with each other now; the future is a bit scary.
FUN TO KNOW FACTS
The Word With The Most Meanings
The word with the largest number of separate definitions is the word "set" which has 430 separate definitions.
The Most Misused Word
Of all the words that have had their meanings diluted over time, dictionary.com has declared one the most misused word as “ironic.” Their argument is that the word is almost never used correctly. People often hear it used to mean something that’s funny, coincidental, or unexpected. And while it can describe something that is any of those adjectives, it has to be funny, unexpected, i.e. all of those things, because it’s the exact the opposite of what you’d expect.
The Least Popular Letter
While it's an easy guess that X is the least used letter in the English alphabet, it stands proudly as the beginning letter for at least 400 words in the current Oxford Dictionary. But when Noah Webster first produced his Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, the number of listed words beginning with X was a grand total of…one! (It was, of all things, “xebec,” which describes “a three-masted vessel of the Mediterranean.”)
The Longest Dictionary Word in English
The longest word most of us know is "antidisestablishmentarianism." That word held the record until the name of a lung disease with forty-five letters displaced it with “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis." According to Lexico, this word was actually created to poke fun at long, overly technical medical terms.. Another, much longer word is actually considered the longest in English with 189,819 letters—and it’s another scientific term. It’s the name for a protein nicknamed “titin.” It would take a full 12 pages to write each letter out, so, understandably, dictionaries choose to omit it." www.rd.com/list/fascinating-dictionary-facts/
According to Grammarly, “incomprehensibilities,” at 21 letters, has been named the longest word “in common usage.”
Contributor To The First Oxford English Dictionary
They say that fact is stranger than fiction. This is a true and tragic tale that supports that theory. William Chester Minor was a Civil War veteran suffering from serious paranoid schizophrenia after experiencing the horrors of war. Specifically, his symptoms were similar to PTSD. He underwent treatment and moved to England hoping a new environment might help. Instead he suffered from frequent nightmares that there was an intruder in his room who was trying to kill him. So far, therapy had not helped
One night in 1872, Minor shot at someone he was sure was the intruder, and he killed an innocent passerby, George Merrett. Minor confessed to the murder, explained why he did it. Seven weeks later, a court found William C. Minor, 37, not guilty on the grounds of insanity. Once a respected army surgeon who saved lives, he had suddenly been rejected as a deluded lunatic who took lives. He was sentenced to the Asylum for the Criminally Insane at Broadmoor.
While imprisoned at the asylum, Minor started contributing to the Oxford English Dictionary’s “mail-in volunteer system.” He regularly sent words to the editor, James Murray who had no idea Minor was incarcerated.
This description of the process substantially comes from a publication by Merriam-Webster dated 2010. I found no updates and only a few other articles, all dated around the same time. Although there are parts of the procedure that require good old human eyes and brains, it's hard to believe libraries are not taking advantage of the most up-to-date technology available.
We (humans) are irreplaceable ... for now. Imagine a totally AI-created dictionary! What fun
words it might contain. We can barely communicate with each other now; the future is a bit scary.
FUN TO KNOW FACTS
The Word With The Most Meanings
The word with the largest number of separate definitions is the word "set" which has 430 separate definitions.
The Most Misused Word
Of all the words that have had their meanings diluted over time, dictionary.com has declared one the most misused word as “ironic.” Their argument is that the word is almost never used correctly. People often hear it used to mean something that’s funny, coincidental, or unexpected. And while it can describe something that is any of those adjectives, it has to be funny, unexpected, i.e. all of those things, because it’s the exact the opposite of what you’d expect.
The Least Popular Letter
While it's an easy guess that X is the least used letter in the English alphabet, it stands proudly as the beginning letter for at least 400 words in the current Oxford Dictionary. But when Noah Webster first produced his Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, the number of listed words beginning with X was a grand total of…one! (It was, of all things, “xebec,” which describes “a three-masted vessel of the Mediterranean.”)
The Longest Dictionary Word in English
The longest word most of us know is "antidisestablishmentarianism." That word held the record until the name of a lung disease with forty-five letters displaced it with “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis." According to Lexico, this word was actually created to poke fun at long, overly technical medical terms.. Another, much longer word is actually considered the longest in English with 189,819 letters—and it’s another scientific term. It’s the name for a protein nicknamed “titin.” It would take a full 12 pages to write each letter out, so, understandably, dictionaries choose to omit it." www.rd.com/list/fascinating-dictionary-facts/
According to Grammarly, “incomprehensibilities,” at 21 letters, has been named the longest word “in common usage.”
Contributor To The First Oxford English Dictionary
They say that fact is stranger than fiction. This is a true and tragic tale that supports that theory. William Chester Minor was a Civil War veteran suffering from serious paranoid schizophrenia after experiencing the horrors of war. Specifically, his symptoms were similar to PTSD. He underwent treatment and moved to England hoping a new environment might help. Instead he suffered from frequent nightmares that there was an intruder in his room who was trying to kill him. So far, therapy had not helped
One night in 1872, Minor shot at someone he was sure was the intruder, and he killed an innocent passerby, George Merrett. Minor confessed to the murder, explained why he did it. Seven weeks later, a court found William C. Minor, 37, not guilty on the grounds of insanity. Once a respected army surgeon who saved lives, he had suddenly been rejected as a deluded lunatic who took lives. He was sentenced to the Asylum for the Criminally Insane at Broadmoor.
While imprisoned at the asylum, Minor started contributing to the Oxford English Dictionary’s “mail-in volunteer system.” He regularly sent words to the editor, James Murray who had no idea Minor was incarcerated.
Image Source: www.bing.com/search?q=images+-+william+chester+minor
Murray found that Minor was one of the most prolific and by far one of the most valuable contributors. The two men would eventually meet almost 20 years after the start of their correspondence.
JUST SAYIN'
Sources:
https://randomwordgenerator.com/fake-word.php#:~:text=Fake%20words%20are%20simply%20made%20up%20words%20that,it%20seem%20like%20they%20would%20be%20real%20words.
https://knowinsiders.com/top-15-new-words-in-english-for-20242025-39356.html
https://bookriot.com/dictionary-com-releases-list-of-new-and-updated-words-for-2024/#
https://www.rd.com/list/phrases-people-never-use-sound-smart/
https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq-real-words#:~:text
https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq-words-into-dictionary
https://ideas.ted.com/20-words-that-arent-in-the-dictionary-yet/
https://www.rd.com/article/dictionary-editors-prank/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dictionary_of_the_English_Language
https://www.britannica.com/summary/dictionary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dictionaries_by_number_of_words
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-companion-to-english-dictionaries/samuel-johnson-and-the-first-english-dictionary/D3999C74ED1D776735E1C3F682E43F9B
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images%20-%20Samuel%20Johnson&form=IQFRBA&id=8BE9739A55D1A3C41E7DE89C05EC26AF08938DB6&first=1
https://www.grammarly.com/citations/mla/clip-art?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=627085131&utm_content=81157820688367&utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.grammarly.com%2Fcitations%2Fmla&keywordid=2332957515897084&targetid=dat-2332957515897084:loc-190&ad
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/504609/murderer-who-helped-make-oxford-english-dictionary
Murray found that Minor was one of the most prolific and by far one of the most valuable contributors. The two men would eventually meet almost 20 years after the start of their correspondence.
JUST SAYIN'
Sources:
https://randomwordgenerator.com/fake-word.php#:~:text=Fake%20words%20are%20simply%20made%20up%20words%20that,it%20seem%20like%20they%20would%20be%20real%20words.
https://knowinsiders.com/top-15-new-words-in-english-for-20242025-39356.html
https://bookriot.com/dictionary-com-releases-list-of-new-and-updated-words-for-2024/#
https://www.rd.com/list/phrases-people-never-use-sound-smart/
https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq-real-words#:~:text
https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq-words-into-dictionary
https://ideas.ted.com/20-words-that-arent-in-the-dictionary-yet/
https://www.rd.com/article/dictionary-editors-prank/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dictionary_of_the_English_Language
https://www.britannica.com/summary/dictionary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dictionaries_by_number_of_words
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-companion-to-english-dictionaries/samuel-johnson-and-the-first-english-dictionary/D3999C74ED1D776735E1C3F682E43F9B
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images%20-%20Samuel%20Johnson&form=IQFRBA&id=8BE9739A55D1A3C41E7DE89C05EC26AF08938DB6&first=1
https://www.grammarly.com/citations/mla/clip-art?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=627085131&utm_content=81157820688367&utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.grammarly.com%2Fcitations%2Fmla&keywordid=2332957515897084&targetid=dat-2332957515897084:loc-190&ad
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/504609/murderer-who-helped-make-oxford-english-dictionary
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