Fwd: to google is in

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Fri, Jul 07, 2006 at 11:41:22AM -0700, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:
> extra, extra, read all about it!
>
>   http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2159875/google-makes-verb
>
> July 7, 2006
>
> The term 'google' has been added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary as
> a verb, finally giving official status to the popular term 'googling'.
>
> The online version of the dictionary defines the term as: 'To use the
> Google search engine to obtain information about [a person or thing]
> on the world wide web.'
>
> 'Googling' was added this week alongside a number of other popular,
> and not so popular, technical terms such as 'spyware', 'ringtone' and
> 'mouse potato'. The latter describes someone who spends too long
> sitting at the computer.
>
> 'Biodiesel', 'supersize' and 'unibrow' were also among the new
> Merriam-Webster additions. 'Unibrow' is defined as 'a single
> continuous brow resulting from the growing together of eyebrows.'
>
> However, the Oxford English Dictionary beat Merriam-Webster to the
> punch. The OED added 'google' as a verb in its June update of terms,
> defining the term as: 'To use the Google search engine to find
> information on the internet. To search for information about (a
> person or thing) using the Google search engine.'...

OED also has 'spyware', 'mouse potato', 'biodiesel',
'supersize', and 'unibrow', and 'ringtone' is slated for the
next publication batch (indeed, I thought it was in already).

ObPetPeeve: the use of "official" in contexts of the English
language and the inclusion of new/slang/etc. words in
dictionaries.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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