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'Web 2.0' Becomes Millionth English Word

by Terrence O'Brien on June 11, 2009 at 06:45 PM



According to at least one estimation, the English language has collected its one millionth word. The Global Language Monitor, whose authority on the issue is on the questionable side, got us geared up for the Million Word March in May. At that time the Language Monitor was expecting the millionth word to be "noob" or "defriend," but both were beaten to the punch by "Web 2.0."

The Global Language Monitor tracks the usage of words and phrases across billions of Web sites. When a word or phrase has been used over 25,000 times, the Language Monitor considers it to be a part of our language. "Web 2.0" apparently crossed that threshold at 5:22 a.m. EST on Wednesday, June 10th.

Language experts like Jesse Sheidlower, editor at large of the Oxford English Dictionary, and Sarah Thomason, president of the Linguistic Society of America and a professor of linguistics at the University of Michigan, were critical of the Language Monitor's count and its methodology. The Oxford English Dictionary has roughly 600,000 entries, but Sheidlower told CNN that it is impossible to count the number of English words, "and to pretend that you can is totally disingenuous." Part of the issue is how to break down "words." Sheidlower gave the example of "great-great-great-great grandfather." Technically, it could be considered its own word, but it would never find its way into a dictionary.

More than anything, we're just confused as to how a several-year-old buzz word like "Web 2.0" has only now crossed the 25,000-use threshold. We're pretty sure it's appeared on Switched almost that many times. [From: CNN and The Global Language Monitor, via John Battelle's Search Blog]

Tags: english, global language monitor, GlobalLanguageMonitor, language, linguistics, web 2.0, Web2.0, word, words

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