3 posts and columns on OED

News Byte

Man, I Got So WikiLeaked Last Night

in News on December 21, 2010 at 12:23 pm PT

“WikiLeaks” has entered the canon of the English language, but not according to the OED. Research done by a group known as Global Language Monitor shows that “WikiLeaks” has appeared in global media more than 300 million times since 2006. The Texas-based group cites a minimum of 25,000 mentions in English-speaking media as a requirement for the name to become its own lowercase, generic word. Unfortunately, GLM doesn’t specify its definition or whether the word would be used as a noun, verb, adjective or adverb.

News Byte

Next Edition of OED May Be Online Only; Trees Rejoice

in News on August 30, 2010 at 10:10 am PT

The increasing use of Internet reference resources has not escaped the editors of the revered Oxford English Dictionary, the most current printed edition of which is a 20-volume, 130-pound stack of dead-tree product. The respective trend lines for the OED’s hardback sales and Web subscriptions are such, said the publisher Sunday, that the next edition–one-quarter done but still a decade or so away from completion–will probably never see print in its complete form. The online version, now 10 years old, is getting a major refresh in December.