The Internet is such an intrinsic part of our everyday lives that the words and phrases we use online are finding their way into the dictionary. Teenagers using social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace are especially instrumental in this evolution of the English language, with the new Collins English Dictionary being punctuated by words commonly used on the Web.

According to The Times, there have been 267 words added to this year’s new edition of the Collins English Dictionary. Many are words that have been put into common usage by younger generations on the Web. As well as creating their own new words, they’ve also brought older, formerly out of fashion words back, and turned what would once have been considered nothing more than sounds into oft used words and phrases.

Internet-derived words now to be found in the dictionary include “noob”, which is the shortened version of “newbie”, a word used to refer to someone not aware of netiquette or who has just started playing a video game. There is also “woot”, which is an expression of joy, usually uttered after achieving something good.

Words that were once sounds but are now considered words after being used in their written form include “hmm”, “heh”, “meh”, and “mwah”. And the odds are that anyone reading this would instantly know what they all mean, somewhat justifying their inclusion in the dictionary.

Words commonly used in texting are also in. “OMG”, the abbreviation of “Oh my God”, “WTF”, the abbreviation of “What the f***”, and “soz”, the truncated version of “sorry” have all been added.

One trend I must admit to not being a fan of is combining two words together to form one new word. But that hasn’t stopped a number of them from finding their way into the new Collins English Dictionary. These include “staycation” (”stay” and “vacation”), and “glamping” (”glamorous” and “camping”).

Elaine Higgleton, editorial director for Collins, said of these new additions:

English is very good at absorbing new words. [But] in three or four years a lot of these words may have fallen out of use and might well come out of the dictionary.

That’s the thing about the English language and particularly its use on the Web: a word or phrase can spreads like wildfire very quickly before petering out just as promptly. While some of the above phrases will stand the test of time, most will fall by the wayside as a new generation create their own language to stupefy the rest of us with.

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Entry was posted on Monday, August 31st, 2009 at 6:05 pm under Amusing, Internet, Opinion, Social Media, Technology.

Read more entries by Dave Parrack.
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