[Lexicog] Merriam-Webster unveils new dictionary entries

[Michael Nicholas]

Who defines "staying power"? How long does a new word have show up in publications that are read on a daily basis? Why not get together with a few friends, invent a word and with an adroit use of marketing get the word accepted?
   I was told that best sellers were manufactured by publishers sending out employees  to buy hundreds of copies of the title the publisher wished to promote. Could we be heading for a similar situation as regards new words? 
  By the way, some years ago the RAE wanted to find a Spanish equivalent for Do - It - Yourself known in the UK as DIY. I believe the French equivalent is BRICOLAGE. A competition was set up and the public was asked to send in their suggestions. And the winner was... 

Wayne Leman <wayne_leman at sil.org> escribió:
          http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/07/06/dictionary.new.words.ap/index.html

To make it into the dictionary, a word has to be more than a 
flash-in-the-pan fad. It needs staying power.

"We need evidence that the word is showing up in publications that people 
are reading on an everyday basis," Morse said. Lexicographers comb through 
national newspapers, entertainment magazines, trade journals and Web sites 
in search of new words and phrases.

Some new words mentioned in this CNN article:

unibrow

soul patch

drama queen

empty suit

himbo

mouse potato

biodiesel

Wayne Leman



         

 		
---------------------------------

LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo.
Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto.
http://es.voice.yahoo.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lexicography/attachments/20060707/8e06653c/attachment.htm>