It may come as a surprise, but we aren’t language purists.
If you heard the way we talk around the office at times, it’s hard to fathom a coherent product resulting from our efforts.
Even so, we’re a little dismayed at the Oxford English Dictionary’s choices for newest words.
We saw “LOL” and “OMG” coming; their usage has extended even to news headlines.
However, we’re wondering who thought including “heart” as a verb was a good idea.
We usually hear this use of the word in a sarcastic context, as if the speaker is too current to say the word “love.” The literal reading of a pictograph is too silly to be immortalized on paper. For instance, doesn’t “I heart you” sound just as sincere as those other three words?
In light of this inclusion, we’ve brewed up a little theory on these ridiculous additions.
How many people still break out the OED — even in its online version — to look up a word?
It’s losing ground, but one of the ways to flag down some public notice is to elect flash-in-the-pan words that have no place in a dictionary to go into the book.
We hear the same story ever year.
The annual additions generally include a few legitimate entries needed to keep the dictionary up to date sprinkled among the ludicrous ones needed to stir up some buzz.
Here’s to hoping it’s a cry for help from a respected institution rather than terrible decision-making.
