Our Living Language

Or I don’t think that word means what you think it means.

I found out yesterday that craptastic is in the dictionary now. So is truthiness but I knew about that one. Our language is changing at a rather rapid rate especially since denizens of the Internet seem to be coming up with new words and phrases every say.

Then there are the words that have changed meaning or can’t be used as they once were because nobody seems to remember what the word originally meant. My prime example of that is gay. When I was a kid gay meant extremely happy and giddy. Now kids giggle when they listen to the theme to the Flintstones and they say “We’ll have a gay old time.” I am not upset with the change of the meaning but it does go to show how words change within the language.

There was some word that was used in rap that young people used in their common language until it was pointed out that the word meant that back in the middle ages and had changed to another meaning during the industrial revolution so all they were doing was speaking middle English. The word pretty much fell out of use after that.

So I have to learn new terms and words to keep up with the kids which is not a bad thing. It shows that ours is a living language.

I am grateful for dictionary updates.

Our Living Language

Or I don’t think that word means what you think it means

I found out yesterday that craptastic is in the dictionary now. So is truthiness but I knew about that one. Our language is changing at a rather rapid rate especially since denizens of the Internet seem to be coming up with new words and phrases every say.

Then there are the words that have changed meaning or can’t be used as they once were because nobody seems to remember what the word originally meant. My prime example of that is gay. When I was a kid gay meant extremely happy and giddy. Now kids giggle when they listen to the theme to the Flintstones and they say “We’ll have a gay old time.” I am not upset with the change of the meaning but it does go to show how words change within the language.

There was some word that was used in rap that young people used in their common language until it was pointed out that the word meant that back in the middle ages and had changed to another meaning during the industrial revolution so all they were doing was speaking middle English. The word pretty much fell out of use after that.

So I have to learn new terms and words to keep up with the kids which is not a bad thing. It shows that ours is a living language.

I am grateful for dictionary updates.