Jedi and Klingons Invade Dictionary, Muggles Wait

[Beast]

A friend of mine, AIM'd me the following link. I thought it was funny as heck, and wanted to share it with you guys. First Jedi get recognized as an official religion in Australia, now they get added to the dictionary. :)


Jedi and Klingons Invade Dictionary, Muggles Wait
Wed Sep 25,10:59 AM ET
By Peter Graff

LONDON (Reuters) - Science fiction's "Jedi" warriors and "Klingon" bad guys have entered the newest edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, along with "asylum seekers," "asymmetrical warfare" and "spin control."

The first new edition in nearly a decade of the short version of the classic word bible will appear Thursday, with 3,500 new entries, from "***-backwards" to "warp drive."

Britain's prime minister Tony Blair is immortalized with "Blairism," "Blairite," "New Labor," "Old Labour" and the ill-fated construction project, the "Millennium Dome."

New slang terms include "get real" and "badass."

There are also 500 new quotations. Among the writers whose literary citations appear for the first time are best sellers Tom Clancy and Nick Hornby, Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding and, inevitably, Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling.

But although new words from science fiction films like Star Wars and Star Trek have made it, words coined for the Harry Potter books are still too new to appear.

"Generally, a word has to be used five times in five different places over five years, although something like 'text messaging' got in quicker because it became so widely used so quickly," said spokeswoman Claire Turner.

Rowling gets credit for notable uses of old words, such as "beefy" -- an adjective describing Harry's awful uncle Vernon -- and "stump," as in: "Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was."

But "muggle" -- Rowling's made-up word for people who are not wizards -- is still listed only as an early 20th century American slang term for a marijuana cigarette.

Bet you didn't know that.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020925/od_nm/dictionary_dc_1

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[Lowly Bantha Cleaner]

But "muggle" -- Rowling's made-up word for people who are not wizards -- is still listed only as an early 20th century American slang term for a marijuana cigarette.

Now tell me that of all the slang for marijuana names like pot, reefer, hash, buddah, herb, tai, bud, tai-bud, tai-sticks, joint, ganga, mary jane, oregano, hippie lettuce, grass, blunt, weed, cannabis, doobie, that you have ever heard someone say "let's go smoke a muggle?"

If you ask me, it's been downhill for dictionaries ever since they admitted the word "ain't."

[mini-rock]

I don't know why, but that makes me feel kinda proud to be a SW fan. Thanks JJB:)

[JediCole]

It seems that pop culture is rapidly becoming real culture. I recently found out that Will Smilth (of Men in Black fame, amoungst other accolades) has the distinction of adding a word to the English dictionary (at least in the United States), jiggy.

I found this out from watching Inside the Actor's Studio when the subject was broached by the host, James Lipton. Will Smith replied, when the point was made that a word he coined was now in the dictionary, "That's great because I was wanting to look it up and find out what it means!"

I don't recall the exact definition, but it kind of underscores the idea that words like Klingon, Jedi, and jiggy can enter the vernacular and eventually become the accepted fodder of lexiconographers.

[Tycho]

I told you: Star Wars is REAL!!!

There is only one Lord: Vader, and Lucas was his Prophet!

[Lord Tenebrous]

It's kinda sad, my grandmother wanted a new dictionary for her birthday, and the first thing we did was look up all the dirty words. She was a little...shocked.

But me, I'm proper. I haven't purchased a dictionary since the 80's. If it's going to confuse a foreigner, I don't want it in the dictionary I'm using. So no pop culture, no slang.

But I guess Oxford wants to look hip to the 14-year-olds. May as well dirty it up into a pulp publication. :rolleyes:

[Eternal Padawan]

So there's only so much space in an abridged dictionary.

What words got dropped?

I want to know, because I want to make them part of my regular vocab. :D

ROLLO!

[Exhaust Port]

Originally posted by Lord Tenebrous
But I guess Oxford wants to look hip to the 14-year-olds. May as well dirty it up into a pulp publication. :rolleyes:

Remember that the dictionary is the source of information about any word no matter what its origin might have been. As JJB's quote said they have criteria that a word must meet in order to be considered widespread enough to justify it's addition. Yeah, it seems stupid to have a word like jiggy in the dictionary but if it's use is widespread enough then it should be cataloged. Even dirty words are fair game. By the way, what makes a word "dirty?" It's only a collection of letters right?

[Mr. JabbaJohnL]

What does it say under Jedi?

[Jargo]

The shorter Oxford dictionary isn't really a true dictionary but more a source of reference that combines various larger tomes produced by the OUP (Oxford University Press) into an abridged easy to use edition.
Dictionaries of slang, quotations and various other books regarding idioms and foreign words and phrases will also be truncated and included. You won't find many old words in the shorter Oxford which comes in at two volumes per set. If you have the cash to buy the Oxford dictionary in it's entire eleven volume set then you will find fewer slang words cluttering up your browsing.
Buying a seperate slang dictionary will give you the knowledge of centuries of odd phrases and words that have become outdated and misused. I bought a slang dictionary a few years back and was astounded at how many sexually tilted words and phrases there were. If I wasn't going to get banned for explaining them I'd use many of the slang words myself. Old slang is as much a part of English as anything. Shakespeares great plays are full of street slang. The quote I used in my signature is slang; 'popinjay', it's a word that technically means idiotic egotistical scoundrel. Just a sloppy street slang word. You'll find it as an entry in the Oxford dictionary too.

I can't remember exactly but someone once said that there are really only two hundred useful words in the English language and everything else is superfluous. How dull and tawdry if we excluded all the colorful additions and just stopped with two hundred. I'm not sure I agree with the inclusion of Jedi or Klingon though as they really don't mean anything. But then again, if you look at the dictionaries as a repository of all words used by many in common parlance then Jedi and Klingon are often uttered in conversation - in various circles of society. Possibly the use of Star Wars names will be more commonly acknowledged because of the way they were used in the ENRON scandal. If they weren't commonly used by academics before then they certainly entered the language when that scandal became public.

Looking in my slang dictionary I found:

Mugglehead: n.[1920's-1970's] (US drugs) a marijuana smoker.

Muggler: n. [1930's] (drugs) a smoker of marijuana.

Muggles: n. [mid-late18C] restlesness. [dialect. muggle, to move restlessly]

Muggles/muggie: n.[1920's-1970's](orig. US drugs) 1. a cigarette with marijuana (occas. hashish) substituted for some of the tobacco and packed back inside it; thus muggled up, intoxicated by marijuana, muggle smoker, a marijuana user.
2. a smoker of marijuana

If someone hadn't recorded the slang of the day and included it in a dictionary somewhere, I would not have found this information. My language and knowledge of language is a constantly evolving beast. To simply dismiss any word or phrase is to strike the beast dead.

[El Chuxter]

The One True OED has a Homer-Simpsonism: "D'oh!"

[Lowly Bantha Cleaner]

Originally posted by EMPEROR JARGO
Mugglehead: n.[1920's-1970's] (US drugs) a marijuana smoker.

Muggler: n. [1930's] (drugs) a smoker of marijuana.

Muggles: n. [mid-late18C] restlesness. [dialect. muggle, to move restlessly]

Muggles/muggie: n.[1920's-1970's](orig. US drugs) 1. a cigarette with marijuana (occas. hashish) substituted for some of the tobacco and packed back inside it; thus muggled up, intoxicated by marijuana, muggle smoker, a marijuana user.
2. a smoker of marijuana

If someone hadn't recorded the slang of the day and included it in a dictionary somewhere, I would not have found this information. My language and knowledge of language is a constantly evolving beast. To simply dismiss any word or phrase is to strike the beast dead.

Fair enough. I see your point on the importance of recorded language, even if it is slang. Through the evolution of language, we may gain a better understanding of how people went about their lives and what words and phrases were en vogue.

So who wants to go out back and roll a few muggles with me?;)

[Jargo]

Yo' diggety bro'! :D




I have no idea what I just said... :sur:

*thumbs through slang dictionary desperately.......*

[Exhaust Port]

It would be hilarious to sit in on a meeting of the Oxford dictionary folk as they discuss future changes. The thought of a people with British accents arguing over the importance of JIGGY makes me laugh. :D


**Disclaimer to those from England that read this thread. A British accent for us Americans seems to care this higher level of sophistication when it comes to culture. For the English to then be cataloging our languages slang is somewhat humorous.

[Jargo]

'Tis a pity that Americans have abandoned spelling as a national pastime though. ;)
How come a clipped British accent seems to be applied to all British people? 99.999999999% of British people don't have clipped accents or use the Queen's English. Mostly British people have strange strangled vowels and flattened glottal stops. Or if they come from Wales and speak the Welsh language, permanent phlegm in their throats.
It's like us having a mental picture of all Americans wearing Stetson hats and wearing cowboy boots and muttering "y'all come back now y'hear?" every five seconds. :p
Oh the preconceptions on both sides of the Atlantic that still need breaking down and destroying..... :)

[QLD]

NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!!!!!!!!!!!!

*sorry, just had a flashback*

;)

And we do all wear Stetson Hats and Cowboy Boots........

And in our spare time we steal other people's culture. :crazed:

[Lowly Bantha Cleaner]

Here's another article taken from Compuserve news on the new Oxford Dictionary and some other words they decided to include.


This is how you can tell the English language is alive and well on Planet Earth: We're creating new words. A lot of them. So many that two leading dictionaries on both sides of the Atlantic--the venerable Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary--have added new words to their pages. Read this and update your vocabulary.
anoraky: Socially inept and studious or obsessive person with unfashionable and largely solitary interests
bad ***: A tough, aggressive, or uncooperative person; a trouble-maker
bling-bling: the wearing of expensive designer clothing and flashy jewelry
booty: buttocks
bootylicious: Thanks to Destiny's Child, this is a description of exceptional booty. The song lyrics that changed the dictionary: "Cause my body too bootylicious for ya babe"
bunny-boiler: a vindictive woman (see Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction")
bunny-hugger: conservationist or animal lover

If there is a picture in the dictionary next to the word "bootylicious," this is the one!

chick-flick: movies that appeal to women
chick-lit: books that appeal to women
gearhead: car enthusiast
hottie: a physically attractive person
noogie: the prank of rubbing your knuckles on somebody's head
treehugger: an environmentalist
roadrage: a motorist's uncontrolled anger that is usually generated by an irritating act of another motorist and is expressed by aggressive or violent behavior
spinmeister: An expert at presenting information or events to the media in a favorable light.

While thumbing through all the slang for marijuana that I listed, I forgot to mention one common one--dope! I feel like one now. :stupid:

[LTBasker]

Anyone else's I.Q. feel like a fried egg now? :cry:

Truly sad on alot of that stuff. It's not enough they have to let "bling bling" or whatever in, but bootylicious? Now I know humanity has no hope, when they start using words from pop stars!!!!!!!! :rolleyes:

[darthvyn]

bunny-boiler???

have you ever heard anyone say this?