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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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8

'Web 2.0' is English's Millionth Word

A new word emerges every 98 minutes

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(Newser) – The millionth word to enter the English lexicon is pure geek-speak, the Telegraph reports: Web 2.0 was entered this morning by Global Language Monitor, which recognizes words once they’ve appeared 25,000 times in the media, blogs, and social websites. The linguistic cataloger estimates that a new word is generated every 98 minutes.

Jai ho—Hindi for “may you be victorious”—came just one word too early. Gaming term n00b, financial tsunami, and octomom were also recently added. “Some 400 years after the death of the Bard, the words and phrases were coined far from Stratford-upon-Avon, emerging instead from Silicon Valley, India, China and Poland,” says a word analyst.

Web 2.0 has been declared the millionth word to be added to the English language.
Web 2.0 has been declared the millionth word to be added to the English language.   (Shutter stock)
Web 2.0 has been declared the millionth word to be added to the English language.
Web 2.0 has been declared the millionth word to be added to the English language.   (Flickr)
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The average person's vocabulary is fewer than 14,000 words out of the million that are available.
- Paul JJ Payack, chief word analyst
for the Global Language Monitor

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8 comments
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kokuaguy
Jun 10, 09 4:49 PM CDT
How appropriate. Reply
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+1
DarkFrancis
Jun 10, 09 4:59 PM CDT
Think I'll leave it to the OED. Sometimes the stuffed shirts are worth paying better attention to. Reply
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0
IN RESPONSE:
NutsInNY
Jun 10, 09 7:44 PM CDT
This "millionth word" stuff is RUBBISH, as linguists know -- but that doesn't stop journalists from spreading the story. Fact: there's no precise way to count English words... For example, how many words here: snow, snowed, snowing, snow job, snow-blind, snow-blindness, snow suit, snow shoes, snowmobile... An *endless* number of words are possible by combining an *endless* number of other words. For more info, read this current piece on the subject by one of America's preeminent linguists, Geoffrey K. Pullum: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1497
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+2
Sauerkraut
Jun 10, 09 6:30 PM CDT
Have they added the word noob to the dictionary yet? I heard they were.. Reply
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+1
2-bits
Jun 10, 09 6:42 PM CDT
Sad that the alleged one millionth word is mostly devoid of meaning. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
-1

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Site has no authority to deem words
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OED: 'Web 2.0' is old term
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