Fictional Materials for OED

[Mark Mandel]

I agree with you, especially on "kryptonite", since the Superman ... mythos
... is much older and more widely known than the sources of the others
(i.e., well beyond sf fandom).

m a m

On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 6:23 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> I have previously suggested that OED should have entries for "kryptonite"
> (Superman), the spice "melange" (Dune) and "ice-nine" (Cat's Cradle).  No
> one seemed particularly to agree with me, as I remember.
>
> I am inspired to return to this topic by noticing that Wikipedia has an
> article, "List of Fictional Elements, Materials, Isotopes and Atomic
> Particles."  This list supplies me with some additional candidates:
>
> adamantium (Wolverine)
> carbonite (The Empire Strikes Back)
> dilithium (Star Trek)
>
> After its use in the film Avatar, "unobtanium" may also merit OED
> inclusion.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org