Webster's Ginormous Mistake

     Merriam-Webster is issuing the newest version of its dictionary, and included in this publication are "words" such as ginormous (a blending of the words gigantic and enormous), crunk (a term associated with rap music), and smackdown (a way to describe a bout in entertainment wrestling).

     Call me old-fashioned, but I am extremely disappointed that such fad-oriented distortions to the English language are being adopted by Webster.  When I last taught a communication arts class, I was battling student use of informal abbreviations like "'b-4."  I'd be going out of my mind these days to combat shortened words, text-messaging lingo, and the slang now deemed acceptable by the most recent copy of the dictionary.

     Surely, I am not the only one who holds this opinion.  Those with an opposing view, please teach me the error of my ways "cuz" I don't get it!

     (Note:  While spell checking this post, ginormous, crunk, smackdown, b-4, and cuz came back as erroneous - just like they should!)

Comments

[Bob]

Did the abbreviated words make it into the dictionary?

[Kim Wencewicz]

I haven't seen a complete list of additions (over 100 words this go-around), but I certainly hope not. . .

[Letha]

As an editor, I have to balance my distaste for distortions in our language with my realization that English is a growing, evolving language.

My personal language guru, William Strunk Jr., whose Elements of Style has withstood the test of time, has this to say:
"Youth invariably speaks to youth in a tongue of his own devising: he renovates the language with a wild vigor, as he would a basement apartment. ... A new word is always up for survival. Many do survive. Others grow stale and disappear. Most are, at least in their infancy, more appropriate to conversation than to composition."

[Tonni]

I agree totally. As a 7th grade Literature teacher, I am constantly fighting students with these slang terms. I have even talked to college students who text FREQUENTLY and they don't like the text lingo either.