tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca-fr/topics/dictionary-32269/articlesDictionary – La Conversation2024-01-10T13:29:31Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2206182024-01-10T13:29:31Z2024-01-10T13:29:31Z‘Thirst trap’ and ‘edgelord’ were recently added to the dictionary – so why hasn’t ‘nibling’ made the cut?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568127/original/file-20240107-19-mm0vw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=59%2C29%2C4902%2C3211&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A rose by any other name would smell as sweet – but would it sound as sweet?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/little-rose-royalty-free-image/1280008568?phrase=open+dictionary+flowers&searchscope=image%2Cfilm&adppopup=true">Alicia Llop/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A student in my graduate seminar recently mentioned seeing her “niblings” at Thanksgiving. Some of the students in my class were clearly familiar with the term. But others frowned, suggesting that they hadn’t heard the term before, or didn’t know what it meant.</p>
<p>A nibling is the child of one’s brothers or sisters. The word is a blend of the “n” in “niece” and “nephew” with “sibling,” and it was coined in the <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110857610/html">early 1950s</a> by linguist Samuel Martin.</p>
<p>But even though it’s been around for over 70 years, the word <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nibling">isn’t included</a> in the online Merriam-Webster dictionary. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/new-words-in-the-dictionary">most recent crop</a> of terms added to the dictionary includes words like <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/edgelord">edgelord</a> – a person who makes provocative statements online – and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thirst%20trap">thirst trap</a>, which is an online photo that’s meant to grab attention. Edgelord was first recorded in 2015, and thirst trap dates from 2011.</p>
<p>So why have these newbie words made the cut? Why have they been chosen for inclusion, but not nibling?</p>
<p>In making such decisions, the dictionary’s editors note that they employ <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq-words-into-dictionary">two criteria</a>. First, a term “must be used in a substantial number of citations that come from a wide range of publications.” Second, these citations need to cover “a considerable period of time.”</p>
<p>But there may be another litmus test that the editors employ, perhaps subconsciously: aesthetics. </p>
<h2>Blended words</h2>
<p>Many new terms are a blend of two words that already exist. </p>
<p>Some of these mashups are now so familiar that they aren’t even perceived as such, such as <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smog">smog</a>, a combination of “smoke” and “fog,” and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/motel">motel</a>, a union of “motor” and “hotel.”</p>
<p>Dictionary editors are conservative because they want to enshrine just the new words that remain reasonably popular and that are likely to have some staying power. But dictionaries are full of terms that have fallen out of use. When is the last time you heard someone refer to a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/houppelande">houppelande</a> or a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blatherskite">blatherskite</a>?</p>
<p>Editors have chosen to exclude some terms despite the fact that they have been around for a long time. <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/e/aunt-uncle-niece-nephew-words/">Nibling</a> is one, and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/no-antidisestablishmentarianism-is-not-in-the-dictionary">antidisestablishmentarianism</a> is another, even though the latter was first used over a century ago, <a href="https://www.oed.com/dictionary/antidisestablishmentarianism_n?tab=meaning_and_use#1726801">in 1900</a>.</p>
<p>But after 70 years in the shadows, nibling may finally be having its moment. In 2020, Jennifer Lopez used it in an <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/jennifer-lopez-shares-video-about-transgender-nibling-brendon-n1237838">Instagram post</a> to refer to her sister’s transgender child. Her post was viewed over <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CENEADXpCao/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=0dff33a9-c77e-4da7-8a49-e8983a791088">2 million times</a>. The term was also used in the sixth season of the TV show “<a href="https://bigbangtheory.fandom.com/wiki/Four_Hundred_Cartons_of_Undeclared_Cigarettes_and_a_Niblingo">Young Sheldon</a>” to refer to the title character’s unborn niece or nephew.</p>
<p>However, nibling has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/search?dropmab=false&query=nibling&sort=best">never graced</a> the pages of The New York Times, and it’s appeared <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/search/?query=nibling">just twice</a> in The Washington Post, in articles from late 2023.</p>
<h2>The importance of aesthetics</h2>
<p>With English speakers becoming more comfortable with gender-neutral terms, such as the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/singular-nonbinary-they">singular “they</a>,” nibling seems like a natural addition to English’s gender-neutral lexicon.</p>
<p>But it seems that, in addition to utility and widespread use, a third factor plays a role: aesthetic quality. Nibling simply sounds off-putting, too similar to “nibbling” – and not exactly something that you want to associate with family members.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9627475/Do-call-niece-nephew-nibling-1950s-gender-neutral-term-wildly-popular.html">A 2021 Daily Mail article</a> agreed, calling nibling “skin crawling and awkward.” </p>
<p>And consider the case of Latinx, a word that was coined to be gender-neutral and inclusive. Although it has appeared in Merriam-Webster since 2018, it may end up going the way of an expression like “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colored">colored</a>,” a term that was once “<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/03/30/295931070/the-journey-from-colored-to-minorities-to-people-of-color">a term of racial pride</a>,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary, but which is now considered offensive and has fallen out of use.</p>
<p>No matter how useful Latinx may be, the term is <a href="https://theconversation.com/stop-using-latinx-if-you-really-want-to-be-inclusive-189358">widely disliked</a> in the Hispanic community. A major reason seems to be the word’s lack of aesthetics. One Latina interviewed by Billboard described it as <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/latinx-term-latin-community-9514370/">sounding “ugly</a>,” and people can’t seem to agree on <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/word-history-latinx">how to pronounce it</a>. The more pronounceable <a href="https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/hispanic-latino-latinx-latine/">Latine</a> has been proposed as an alternative.</p>
<h2>“Phablet” not fabulous?</h2>
<p>Aesthetics may also help explain why some other blended words, such as <a href="https://www.oed.com/dictionary/phablet_n?tab=meaning_and_use#302938524">phablet</a>, a fusion of phone and tablet, have failed to catch on. A term for large cellphones, it’s been in use since <a href="https://www.oed.com/dictionary/phablet_n?tab=meaning_and_use#302938524">at least 2010</a>, although it doesn’t currently appear in Merriam-Webster’s word list.</p>
<p>Phablet made its <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/21/this-week-in-small-business-facebook-search/?searchResultPosition=1">first appearance</a> in The New York Times in 2013 and was set off by quotation marks – a standard way of demarcating a new term. In its <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/opinion/sunday/apple-china.html?searchResultPosition=4">last appearance</a>, excluding in puzzles, in that newspaper in 2019, it was still bracketed by quotation marks. </p>
<p>Why did it fail to catch on?</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/01/what-is-a-phablet/319563/">2013 article</a>, The Atlantic characterized phablet as “horrible,” “stupid” and “clumsy.” The piece suggested that it reminded people of words like “flab” and “phlegm.” Usage data compiled by Oxford English Dictionary editors indicates that phablet <a href="https://www.oed.com/dictionary/phablet_n?tab=frequency#302938524">peaked in popularity</a> in 2018 and has been dropping ever since.</p>
<h2>Utility versus aesthetics</h2>
<p>In some cases, however, utility has clearly trumped aesthetics. The initialism LGBT, which is clunky to say, has been used since at least 1992 and has appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/search?dropmab=false&query=lgbt&sort=oldest">almost 6,000 articles</a> in The New York Times since 2000.</p>
<p>LGBT has sprouted a number of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/style/lgbtq-gender-language.html">more inclusive variants</a>, such as LGBTQ, LGBTQ+ and LGBTQIA, which makes it difficult to know <a href="https://thecentercv.org/en/blog/the-guide-to-lgbtq-acronyms-is-it-lgbt-or-lgbtq-or-lgbtqia/">which one to use</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A sign reading 'LGBTQIA+ Info' is taped to a blue tarp." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568082/original/file-20240105-19-uhx6n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568082/original/file-20240105-19-uhx6n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568082/original/file-20240105-19-uhx6n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568082/original/file-20240105-19-uhx6n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568082/original/file-20240105-19-uhx6n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568082/original/file-20240105-19-uhx6n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568082/original/file-20240105-19-uhx6n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘LGBTQ,’ even as an ever-evolving mouthful, has caught on.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/march-2022-berlin-lgbtqia-info-is-written-on-a-poster-news-photo/1239046196?adppopup=true">Annette Riedl/Picture Alliance via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nevertheless, these ungainly initialisms remain popular, despite their awkwardness, because they clearly fill a need.</p>
<p>Will nibling go the way of phablet, or will it become as common as LGBTQ? </p>
<p>Merriam-Webster’s editors have nibling on their list of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/words-were-watching-nibling">words they are watching</a>. But it remains to be seen whether a useful but awkward blend will appeal to a more inclusive world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220618/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger J. Kreuz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pleasant-sounding words might have a leg up.Roger J. Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of MemphisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2182862023-12-22T15:42:50Z2023-12-22T15:42:50ZI’m an expert in slang – here are my picks for word of the year<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564829/original/file-20231211-22-1pr9ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=155%2C40%2C5308%2C3596&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New Year's Eve -- time to perfect your rizz.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-couple-celebrating-new-year-having-1836506470">Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As a linguist who specialises in tracking slang and language change, there’s one holiday tradition I always look forward to: the annual selection of the word of the year. </p>
<p>Dictionary publishers and linguistics associations choose a word or expression – usually a new term or one that has taken on new meaning in the past year. Oxford Dictionaries describes it a word that reflects “the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of that particular year” and has “lasting potential as a word of cultural significance”.</p>
<p>Their choices nearly always spark controversy. Older readers harrumph they’ve “never heard of it”. Millennials and Generation Z dismiss it as “so last year”. Pedants protest that “it’s more than one word”.</p>
<p>In recent years, publishers have tried to appear objective by releasing a shortlist, selected by scanning massive digital collections of language (called corpora) to track how frequently words are used. They then invite the public to vote on their favourite. This is how we got Oxford Dictionaries’ <a href="https://corp.oup.com/news/eight-words-go-head-to-head-for-oxford-word-of-the-year-2023/">2023 pick, “rizz”</a> – a shortened version of “charisma” used to denote attractiveness or charm.</p>
<p>Individual linguists and lexicographers take a more subjective approach, inviting colleagues or followers to nominate terms, or (as I admit to doing) relying on their own informal reading and assumed expertise.</p>
<h2>The 2023 words of the year</h2>
<p>A strong candidate in 2023, given its prominence on social media and in the news, is the abbreviation AI. This was my own <a href="https://language-and-innovation.com/2018/12/12/the-real-words-of-the-year-2018/">pick in 2018</a> and it’s this year’s nomination by <a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/woty">Collins Dictionary</a>. </p>
<p>Cambridge Dictionaries opted for the more specific <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/15/hallucinate-cambridge-dictionary-word-of-the-year">“hallucinate”</a>, in its new sense of AI’s destabilising tendency to provide false information or veer into incoherence while the Economist magazine chose the name of the chatbot tool <a href="https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/12/07/our-word-of-the-year-for-2023">ChatGPT</a>.</p>
<p>US dictionary Merriam-Webster announced their choice of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/word-of-the-year#:%7E:text=Merriam%2DWebster's%20Word%20of%20the,and%20judging%20more%20than%20ever.">“authentic”</a>, noting its role in discourse about AI, celebrity and social media.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/merriam-websters-word-of-the-year-authentic-reflects-growing-concerns-over-ais-ability-to-deceive-and-dehumanize-217171">Merriam-Webster's word of the year – authentic – reflects growing concerns over AI's ability to deceive and dehumanize</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Australian publishers regularly supply quirky new terms from down under. This year, Macquarie Dictionaries selected <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/28/cozzie-livs-light-hearted-term-for-cost-of-living-crisis-named-macquarie-dictionary-word-of-the-year">“cozzie livs”</a>, an irreverent nickname for the cost of living crisis that I <a href="https://language-and-innovation.com/2023/01/13/levity-or-levy-t/">first recorded</a> a year ago in the UK. The Australian National Dictionary Centre has chosen <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/nov/15/matilda-australia-2023-word-of-the-year-womens-world-cup">“Matilda”</a>, the nickname for members of their national women’s soccer team.</p>
<h2>Highlights from history</h2>
<p>The tradition of choosing the year’s most evocative, apt or significant expression dates back to 1970 in Germany and to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_the_year">1990 in the Anglosphere</a>. </p>
<p>One of the <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/money/2019/10/22/american-dialect-society-word-of-year-since-1990/4061030002/">first official</a> words of the year was “bushlips” in 1990. Meaning “insincere political rhetoric”, it referred to then US president George HW Bush’s boastful soundbite, “Read my lips: no new taxes.” </p>
<p>In 2015, Oxford Dictionaries teased its readership by nominating the smiling face with tears of joy <a href="https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2015/#:%7E:text=Oxford%20Word%20of%20the%20Year,Oxford%20Languages&text=That's%20right%20%E2%80%93%20for%20the%20first,know%20it%20by%20other%20names.">emoji</a>. This resulted in predictable expressions of outrage from purists.</p>
<p>One of the features of slang in general is that it derives its glamour from novelty and exclusivity, but once it escapes its original settings it ceases to be cool. Last year’s Oxford nomination for word of the year was “goblin mode”, a nickname for sloppy hedonism that many users abandoned as soon as they coined it.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/goblin-mode-a-gothic-expert-explains-the-trends-mythical-origins-and-why-we-should-all-go-vampire-mode-instead-180282">Goblin mode: a gothic expert explains the trend's mythical origins, and why we should all go 'vampire mode' instead</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>New words and phrases often come from tech innovation – see past selections of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24992393">selfie</a>, <a href="https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2022/">metaverse</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-59401046">NFT</a>.</p>
<p>They can also be generated by lifestyle changes, trends and obsessions, mostly driven by young people. Many new expressions created and exchanged by younger millennials, Generation Z or Generation Alpha are mocked, misunderstood or simply ignored by <a href="https://language-and-innovation.com/2023/01/03/language-aesthetics-and-innovation-in-2022-the-role-of-gen-z/">mainstream media</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two young women recording a video for social media. They are smiling and posing in a pink-lit bedroom, in front of a ring light and smartphone on a tripod." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564832/original/file-20231211-27-us2uc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564832/original/file-20231211-27-us2uc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564832/original/file-20231211-27-us2uc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564832/original/file-20231211-27-us2uc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564832/original/file-20231211-27-us2uc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564832/original/file-20231211-27-us2uc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564832/original/file-20231211-27-us2uc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New words and phrases often originate and spread on social media.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-asian-generation-z-woman-friends-2323910807">CandyRetriever/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>My picks for 2023</h2>
<p>If I were four decades younger, my choice <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/nov/29/delulu-solulu-k-pop-insult-ultimate-compliment?CMP=share_btn_tw">would be “delulu”</a>. Short for “delusional”, this representation of GenZ attitudes and TikTok-inspired language change plays with the techniques of word formation. Cutting or reordering syllables, reduplicating sounds for comic effect and creating nuances or ambiguities of meaning are all features of modern slang. </p>
<p>However, I suspect that, like rizz, it won’t cross the generational divide or endure. It’s characteristic of these fashionable descriptors that nobody can predict which ones will last. </p>
<p>I fear that – just like 2020 – this year will be remembered more for worldwide experience rather than quirky expressions. My instinct then is to choose not slang, jargon or tech-speak, but something else that reflects the tragedies taking place in Israel and Palestine, in Ukraine and elsewhere. </p>
<p>Not a new word at all, but one which, in the language of armed conflict and sectarian cruelty, sums up for me the particular nature of this year’s atrocities and the ambiguous doublespeak <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/16/the-language-being-used-to-describe-palestinians-is-genocidal">used to report them</a>. My word of the year, as a plural noun or as a singular verb, is “targets”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218286/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Thorne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>2023 will be remembered for more than quirky new phrases.Tony Thorne, Director of Slang and New Language Archive, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2060462023-05-30T12:23:40Z2023-05-30T12:23:40ZWhat it takes to become a spelling bee champ<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528633/original/file-20230526-19-805x46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C23%2C5119%2C3369&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Study groups and quizzes can help, but one studying technique stands out above the rest.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mixed-race-girl-wearing-number-on-stage-royalty-free-image/82149516?phrase=+spelling+bee&adppopup=true">Hill Street Studios / Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whenever the <a href="https://spellingbee.com/">Scripps National Spelling Bee</a> takes place, parents and children may wonder: What does it take to become a champion? Is it worth the effort?</p>
<p>As just about any former Scripps champion could tell you, the contest – which is set to take place May 31 to June 1 this year – involves <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/us/spelling-their-way-to-success.html">a fair amount of luck</a>, so preparation does not guarantee a victory. There’s simply no way a contestant can know which word awaits them from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary. But if young people <a href="https://syamantakpayra.com/assets/uploads/papers/payra_2016.pdf">find enjoyment</a> in learning how to spell words, as well as understanding the origins and meanings of these words, then they will feel proud of what they accomplished.</p>
<p>Still, as I state in my book “<a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479831142/hyper-education/">Hyper Education: Why Good Schools, Good Grades, and Good Behavior Are Not Enough</a>,” there are certain practices that can greatly boost a child’s chances of becoming an excellent speller. I observed these practices among families who assist their children in competitive academics.</p>
<h2>1. Invest in study materials</h2>
<p>Rather than just open the dictionary, contestants study word lists, including the 4,000 words in the <a href="https://spellingbee.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/2022%20Words%20of%20the%20Champions.pdf">free official study guide provided</a> by Scripps. Some parents create their own word lists based on observing past bees. </p>
<p>But to the extent possible, competitive spellers, including several <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/05/the-scripps-national-spelling-bee-how-8-kids-won/590782/">previous Scripps National Spelling Bee winners</a>, have purchased special <a href="https://spellpundit.com/#wordlists">word lists</a> to gain a competitive edge. These word lists, which may come in the form of computer software programs or printed booklets, are not easy for everyone to afford. The 2021 champion, Zaila Avant-garde, said her family <a href="https://time.com/6080654/zaila-avant-garde-spelling-bee-equality/">“had a little bit of trouble</a>” coming up with the money to purchase a popular online resource, which at the time cost $600.</p>
<p>Beyond purchasing supplemental materials, hiring a coach has become <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-national-spelling-bees-new-normal-200-an-hour-teen-spelling-coaches/2017/05/30/cc8eb8de-4228-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582_story.html">the new normal</a>. These coaches, who are often former spelling bee contestants or teachers, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-national-spelling-bees-new-normal-200-an-hour-teen-spelling-coaches/2017/05/30/cc8eb8de-4228-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582_story.html">charge between $50 to over $200 an hour</a>. Some coaches work with students one on one <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/06/16/733158499/a-spelling-bee-coach-on-how-to-spell-success">on a weekly basis all year</a>.</p>
<h2>2. Practice independently</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A girl reads a dictionary as she lies on the floor." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528644/original/file-20230526-27-5d0ns6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528644/original/file-20230526-27-5d0ns6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528644/original/file-20230526-27-5d0ns6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528644/original/file-20230526-27-5d0ns6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528644/original/file-20230526-27-5d0ns6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528644/original/file-20230526-27-5d0ns6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528644/original/file-20230526-27-5d0ns6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deliberate practice is one of the most effective ways to improve spelling bee performance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-girl-reading-the-dictionary-royalty-free-image/97437921?phrase=kids+dictionary&adppopup=true">Alexandra Grablewski via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Students must commit to learning the word lists primarily through studying by themselves. Research shows that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550610385872">deliberate practice</a> – that is, studying and memorizing words while alone – is a better predictor of performance in the national spelling bee than being quizzed by others or reading for pleasure. All of the students I met recounted studying in their rooms or at libraries or school. The daily ritual of studying also helps youths build up the stamina of spelling needed on the competitive stage. </p>
<h2>3. Make studying a family affair</h2>
<p>While studying alone is essential for adequate preparation, families should be prepared to accompany their contestant on this journey. I observed one mother and daughter who studied word lists at the kitchen table for three hours a day – every day – as they prepared for the competition.</p>
<p>Other families would make a game out of studying, with homemade placards and grown-ups playing the role of announcer. Another family would frequently watch “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437800/">Akeelah and the Bee</a>” – a movie about a young girl from Los Angeles who tries to make it to the national spelling bee – as a way to keep their daughter motivated.</p>
<p>A former champion shared that when her family went to an Italian restaurant, her father would use it as an occasion to practice words of Italian origin, such as chardonnay, rigatoni and spaghetti. The daughter would write the words on the paper menu, which she then brought home as a study guide and kept for years as memorabilia. All of these activities help the child know that they are not in this alone.</p>
<h2>4. Form study groups</h2>
<p>Another way young spellers make connections in this process is through online study groups. This can be done whether they are classmates in the same school or contestants living across the country. Youths can quiz one another, share strategies or make up study games. Having a sense of connection can deepen their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0162353213480432">passion for learning</a> and further their motivation to stick with it.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A middle school-aged boy with headphones looks at a laptop screen. He is smiling and writing in a notebook." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528661/original/file-20230526-17-spcgfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528661/original/file-20230526-17-spcgfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528661/original/file-20230526-17-spcgfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528661/original/file-20230526-17-spcgfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528661/original/file-20230526-17-spcgfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528661/original/file-20230526-17-spcgfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528661/original/file-20230526-17-spcgfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Forming online study groups can help keep kids engaged.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/asaian-child-boy-kid-taking-an-e-learning-learning-royalty-free-image/1393146298?phrase=online+study+middle+school&adppopup=true">travelism via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The same camaraderie that children form in these study groups can be seen on stage during the Scripps National Spelling Bee itself. It’s not uncommon for contestants to give each other high-fives after spelling a word correctly. There is less of an “us versus them” mentality that characterizes other competitive sports because students compete not against one another but against the dictionary. </p>
<h2>5. Read a lot</h2>
<p>When I investigated why students got interested in spelling, just about all of them mentioned their love of reading. They also listed reading as their favorite hobby. Reading cannot substitute for deliberate practice, but it forms the foundation for why students fell in love with words in the first place.</p>
<p>Students benefit when they learn to become active readers. This involves looking up words they do not understand, paying attention to the use of words in sentences and, of course, focusing on their spelling. </p>
<p>With all this being said, it’s important for families – and the contestants themselves – to pay attention to how they are feeling about the preparation. What parts do they enjoy the most? Is spelling practice taking up all their time to socialize or enjoy other interests and hobbies?</p>
<p>Burning out on a single competition isn’t worth it if it undermines a student’s passion for learning. Families should pay attention to when it’s time to tone down the studying and relax or let other interests rise to the surface. Parents of champions – and even champions themselves – routinely told me that their biggest benefit from the spelling bee was a heightened sense of responsibility and confidence. No trophy can match that.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206046/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pawan Dhingra does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The road to becoming a champion speller is made easier with support from family and friends, but ultimately it depends on an individual student’s commitment to learning, a scholar writes.Pawan Dhingra, Associate Provost and Professor of American Studies, Amherst CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2050192023-05-24T20:10:45Z2023-05-24T20:10:45ZSix decades, 210 Warlpiri speakers and 11,000 words: how a groundbreaking First Nations dictionary was made<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524997/original/file-20230508-213958-ymi5vd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4240%2C2830&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Warlpiri Dictionary contributors</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Jeff Bruer, PAW Media, for Aboriginal Studies Press/AIATSIS</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names of deceased people. The symbol † next to a personal name is a conventional respectful indicator that the person has died.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>The <a href="https://shop.aiatsis.gov.au/products/warlpiri-encyclopaedic-dictionary">first large dictionary</a> of the Warlpiri language began in 1959 in Alice Springs, when Yuendumu man †Kenny Wayne Jungarrayi and others started teaching their language to a young American linguist, †<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_L._Hale">Ken Hale</a>. </p>
<p>Sixty years in the making, the Warlpiri Dictionary has <a href="https://abiawards.com.au/2023-short-list-announcement/">been shortlisted</a> for the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards – a rarity for a dictionary.</p>
<p>Spoken in and around the Tanami Desert, Warlpiri is an Australian Aboriginal language used by around 3,000 adults and children as their everyday language. </p>
<p>Warlpiri artist Otto Sims Jungarrayi says: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the old days when <em>kardiya</em> [non-Indigenous] people came, when they reached this continent, we had <em>jukurrpa</em> “law” here, not written on paper but true <em>jukurrpa</em> “law”, that the ancestors gave us. Now we put our language and our <em>jukurrpa</em> law on paper.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The dictionary and these materials represent the authority of elders, even if those elders are no longer present. </p>
<p>From the start of this project, Hale tape-recorded and transcribed many hours of Warlpiri people talking about language, country, kin and diverse aspects of traditional life. </p>
<p>The Warlpiri people he recorded came from different parts of Warlpiri country, speaking their own distinctive varieties of the language. From this material, Hale hand-wrote the words and meanings on small slips of paper that could be sorted in different ways. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-my-belly-is-angry-my-throat-is-in-love-how-body-parts-express-emotions-in-indigenous-languages-156962">Friday essay: my belly is angry, my throat is in love — how body parts express emotions in Indigenous languages</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Making a dictionary</h2>
<p>Bilingual education was introduced in Northern Territory schools in the 1970s. It meant the Warlpiri communities needed a common spelling system. </p>
<p>In the early 1970s, at Lajamanu community, Warlpiri men †<a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/luther-maurice-jupurrurla-30109">Maurice Luther Jupurrurla</a> and †Marlurrku Paddy Patrick Jangala worked with linguist †Lothar Jagst to develop that spelling system. It was adopted in the new bilingual schools. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527466/original/file-20230522-23-lhcxkb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527466/original/file-20230522-23-lhcxkb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527466/original/file-20230522-23-lhcxkb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527466/original/file-20230522-23-lhcxkb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527466/original/file-20230522-23-lhcxkb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527466/original/file-20230522-23-lhcxkb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527466/original/file-20230522-23-lhcxkb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527466/original/file-20230522-23-lhcxkb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dictionary work became a focus for the new linguist position at Yuendumu School, first filled in 1975 by the dictionary’s chief compiler, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Laughren">Mary Laughren</a>. She worked closely in the school with dictionary co-compiler †Jeannie Egan Nungarrayi.</p>
<p>Over the next four decades, in a type of early crowd-sourcing, more than 210 Warlpiri speakers from different Warlpiri communities worked on and off with Laughren and others. They found words (ultimately 11,000 plus), decided how to spell them, translated them into English, showed how they can be used in Warlpiri sentences, and provided the social, cultural and biological information that makes this a truly encyclopaedic dictionary. </p>
<p>Co-compiler †Marlurrku Paddy Patrick Jangala took on a mission to preserve the meanings of conceptually difficult and older words by writing definitions directly in Warlpiri. The 4,000 complex definitions in Warlpiri provide Warlpiri perspectives on the most important characteristics of each concept.</p>
<p>For example, in these two entries, both defined by †Marlurrku Paddy Patrick Jangala:</p>
<p><em>Kukuju-mardarni</em> is like when a person is happy or is sitting on their own feeling satisfied, or is nodding off to sleep, or is smiling – a man or a woman feeling happy about something like a lover or about their spouse whom they desire or because their lover has sent them a message.</p>
<p><em>Kukuju-mardarni, ngulaji yangkakujaka yapa wardinyi manu yangka nyinami kurntakurntakarra manu yukukiri wantinja-karra manu yinkakarra karnta manu wati yangka wardinyi nyiya-rlanguku marda waninja-warnuku manu marda kali-nyanuku kujaka yangka wardu-pinyi manu marda yangka kujakarla jaru yilyamirni waninja-warnurlu.</em></p>
<p>And:</p>
<p><em>Jalangu</em> is a day which is not tomorrow or not yesterday. It is today. It is the time of daylight that is now. </p>
<p><em>Jalangu, ngulaji yangka parra jukurra-wangu manu pirrarni-wangu, jalanguju. Yangka parra rdili kujaka karrimi jalanguju.</em></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527630/original/file-20230523-21-os4wv9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527630/original/file-20230523-21-os4wv9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527630/original/file-20230523-21-os4wv9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527630/original/file-20230523-21-os4wv9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527630/original/file-20230523-21-os4wv9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527630/original/file-20230523-21-os4wv9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527630/original/file-20230523-21-os4wv9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527630/original/file-20230523-21-os4wv9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Warlpiri Dictionary contributors and family, with Mary Laughren.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Jeff Bruer, PAW Media, for Aboriginal Studies Press/AIATSIS</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then, there was the laborious task of checking the draft dictionary entries. </p>
<p>Computer scientists assisted with data management and experimented with an electronic display, called <a href="https://nlp.stanford.edu/kirrkirr/#Description">Kirrkirr</a>. Kirrkirr users can type in a word and see a visual display of meanings connected to that word (for example, words with a similar meaning, or the opposite meaning). They can also hear it pronounced, and see examples of how the word is used in Warlpiri.</p>
<p>Experts (among them anthropologists, Bible translators, botanists and zoologists) helped to identify plants, animals and more. </p>
<p>And artists, including Jenny Taylor and Jenny Green, provided images they had created for the <a href="https://www.iadpress.com.au/">Institute for Aboriginal Development Press Picture Dictionary series</a> and other publications.</p>
<h2>Passing on Warlpiri language</h2>
<p>Warlpiri people have been working to pass on their language, to ensure their children and grandchildren can speak it. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527629/original/file-20230523-46110-f66dbl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527629/original/file-20230523-46110-f66dbl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527629/original/file-20230523-46110-f66dbl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527629/original/file-20230523-46110-f66dbl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527629/original/file-20230523-46110-f66dbl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527629/original/file-20230523-46110-f66dbl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527629/original/file-20230523-46110-f66dbl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527629/original/file-20230523-46110-f66dbl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tess Ross Napaljarri.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tess Ross Napaljarri began working as a teaching assistant 50 years ago, setting up the Yuendumu <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic4lC4GyyhQ">bilingual education program</a>. She has described how she learned to read and write Warlpiri. “We became partners with the teachers in how to teach the Warlpiri children,” she says. </p>
<p>The children were learning their first language, Warlpiri, and second language, English, “and they were really smart on both languages”. The commitment of Warlpiri people to bilingual education has been – and continues to be – enormous. Since 2005, they have dedicated royalty money through the <a href="https://www.clc.org.au/wett/">Warlpiri Education and Training Trust</a> into supporting this work. </p>
<p>Warlpiri want Warlpiri children to be able to speak for themselves in a meaningful way – in both English and Warlpiri. Today, many Warlpiri now live away from Warlpiri country. </p>
<p>Tess’s niece, Bess Price Nungarrayi, is now assistant principal at Yipirinya School, on Arrernte country in Alice Springs. With more limited opportunities for hearing Warlpiri, Bess says the dictionary will be very useful in strengthening children’s Warlpiri.</p>
<p>This bilingual dictionary has many audiences. Warlpiri people enriching their knowledge of their language, Warlpiri and non-Warlpiri teachers preparing learning materials, Ranger groups studying eco-systems on Warlpiri country. And anyone wanting to learn about Warlpiri language, history, natural history knowledge and culture. </p>
<p>It can help Warlpiri speakers translate complex Warlpiri words into English, and it’s also an important tool for outsiders to learn Warlpiri – something Warlpiri people have long encouraged. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-we-are-the-voice-why-we-need-more-indigenous-editors-182222">Friday essay: we are the voice – why we need more Indigenous editors</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Future generations</h2>
<p>Ormay Gallagher Nangala, a Warlpiri educator at the <a href="https://brdu.com.au/">Bilingual Resources Development Unit</a>, says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Junga jintajinta-manulu nyurruwarnu-patu-wiyi ngulalpalu nyinaja, purlkapurlka wurlkumanu. And ngulajangkaju-ngalpa manurra, young people ka wangka school-rla karnalu warrki-jarri ngulalku, ngulangkalu jintajinta-manu and jungarlupa ngurrju-manu nyampu naa dictionary. Kurdu-kurdurlulu ngula nyanyi yangka.</p>
<p>The dictionary makers brought together information and intentions from the elders who have now passed away, the people who have been working in education for many years, and the future generations who will continue to learn Warlpiri.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was written with the collaboration of senior Warlpiri women Ormay Gallagher Nangala and Tess Ross Napaljarri.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205019/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carmel O'Shannessy has worked with Warlpiri people on language and education for many years. She has received Australian Research Council funding for language research about Warlpiri and other Central Australian languages (#FT190100243).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Simpson is a co-author on the Warlpiri Encyclopaedic Dictionary. She has received relevant grant funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language (CE140100041), ARC grant A10009036) and the MIT Lexicon Project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Otto Sims Jungarrayi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Warlpiri Dictionary has been 60 years in the making – and it’s shortlisted for the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards, a rarity for a dictionary.Carmel O'Shannessy, Associate Professor of linguistics, Australian National UniversityJane Helen Simpson, Professor emerita, Australian National UniversityOtto Sims Jungarrayi, Warlpiri Indigenous Knowledge Holder, Indigenous KnowledgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1461712020-09-25T12:26:07Z2020-09-25T12:26:07ZHow COVID-19 is changing the English language<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359876/original/file-20200924-14-181v8m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=306%2C170%2C5126%2C3116&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The coronavirus forced the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary to break with tradition.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Illustration by Anurag Papolu/The Conversation; dictionary photo by Spauln via Getty Images and model of COVID-19 by fpm/iStock via Getty Images </span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://public.oed.com/blog/corpus-analysis-of-the-language-of-covid-19/">In April</a>, the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary did something unusual. For the previous 20 years, they had issued <a href="https://public.oed.com/updates/">quarterly updates</a> to announce new words and meanings selected for inclusion. These updates have typically been made available in March, June, September and December.</p>
<p>In the late spring, however, and <a href="https://public.oed.com/blog/using-corpora-to-track-the-language-of-covid-19-update-2/">again in July</a>, the dictionary’s editors released special updates, citing a need to document the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the English language. </p>
<p>Although the editors have documented many coronavirus-related linguistic shifts, some of their observations are surprising. <a href="https://public.oed.com/updates/">They claim</a>, for example, that the pandemic has produced only one truly new word: the acronym COVID-19.</p>
<p>Most of the coronavirus-related changes that the editors have noted have to do with older, more obscure words and phrases being catapulted into common usage, such as <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/163102?redirectedFrom=reproduction+number#eid1308929610">reproduction number</a> and <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/88377097">social distancing</a>. They’ve also documented the creation of new word blends based on previously existing vocabulary.</p>
<h2>The dictionary of record</h2>
<p>The Oxford English Dictionary aspires to be the <a href="https://www.oed.com/public/oed3guide/guide-to-the-third-edition-of">most extensive and complete record</a> of the language and its history.</p>
<p>In 1884, parts of the <a href="https://public.oed.com/history/oed-editions/">first edition</a> were released. It wasn’t completed until 1928. Over the ensuing years, additional volumes of new words were published to supplement the first edition, and these were integrated into a second edition that appeared in 1989. This is the version you’ll find in most libraries. A digital release, on CD-ROM, followed in 1992.</p>
<p>In March 2000, <a href="https://www.oed.com">the dictionary launched an online</a> version. For this new edition, the <a href="https://public.oed.com/history/rewriting-the-oed/">editors have been revising</a> definitions dating from the first edition that are, in many cases, over a century old. Due to its size, this <a href="https://public.oed.com/history/oed-editions/preface-to-the-third-edition/">third edition</a> will <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/7970391/Oxford-English-Dictionary-will-not-be-printed-again.html">not appear in printed form</a>, and these revisions may <a href="https://www.mhpbooks.com/third-edition-of-the-oed-to-be-completed-in-2034/">not be completed until 2034</a>.</p>
<p>At the same time, the editors continue to document the language as it grows, changes and evolves. The quarterly updates provide a list of new words and revisions. The <a href="https://public.oed.com/updates/new-words-list-september-2020/">September update</a>, for example, includes “<a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/85468409">craftivist</a>” and “<a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/87945264?redirectedFrom=Cookie+Monster#eid">Cookie Monster</a>.”</p>
<h2>Something old, something new</h2>
<p>The special, coronavirus-related updates give us a glimpse into how language can quickly change in the face of unprecedented social and economic disruption. For example, one of the effects of the pandemic is that it’s brought previously obscure medical terms to the forefront of everyday speech. </p>
<p>Traditionally, dictionary editors include scientific and technical terms only if they achieve some degree of currency outside of their disciplines. This is the case for the names of drugs, since there are <a href="https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/how-do-drugs-get-named/2019-08">many thousands</a> of these. For example, you’ll see <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/166349?redirectedFrom=ritalin#eid">Ritalin</a> and <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/259650?redirectedFrom=oxycontin#eid">Oxycontin</a> in the dictionary, but you won’t see <a href="https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Treatments/Mental-Health-Medications/Types-of-Medication/Aripiprazole-(Abilify)">Aripiprazole</a>. </p>
<p>However, the pandemic has seen <a href="https://public.oed.com/blog/july-2020-update-scientific-terminology-of-covid-19/">at least two</a> drug names jump into public discourse.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/89047967?redirectedFrom=hydroxychloroquine#eid">Hydroxychloroquine</a>, a <a href="https://pharmaphorum.com/news/trumps-tweets-advocate-hydroxychloroquine-as-big-covid-19-vaccine-trials-start/">malaria treatment touted by some</a> as a magic bullet against the virus, was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in July, although the drug’s name had appeared in print as early as 1951.</p>
<p>Another newly famous drug is <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/51654?redirectedFrom=dexamethasone#eid">dexamethasone</a>, a corticosteroid <a href="https://www.ashclinicalnews.org/online-exclusives/dexamethasone-lowers-death-rate-among-ventilated-covid-19-patients/">that has reduced the COVID-19 death rate</a>. It appeared in print as early as 1958 and was included in the dictionary’s second edition. In the July update, the editors provided a quotation illustrating the drug’s current use to combat the coronavirus.</p>
<p>The updates also include new citations for such terms as <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/37337?redirectedFrom=community+transmission#eid1308915980">community transmission</a>, which dates to 1959, and <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/37337?redirectedFrom=community+spread#eid1308915940">community spread</a>, which was first documented in print in 1903. </p>
<h2>The language of quarantining</h2>
<p>Terms related to social isolation existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic, but they’ve become much more common in 2020. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/88365061?redirectedFrom=self-isolate#eid">Self-isolate</a>, <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/88392142?rskey=wBhJFj&result=2&isAdvanced=false#eid">self-isolated</a> and <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/88513093?rskey=HXWOOd&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid">shelter in place</a> all received new citations to illustrate their current usage.</p>
<p>Some terms have seen a shift in meaning. Originally, sheltering in place referred to seeking safety during a circumscribed event, like a tornado or an active shooter attack. It’s now being used to refer to a prolonged period of social isolation.</p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/60163?redirectedFrom=elbow+bump#eid1305595900">elbow bump</a> has evolved from a gesture akin to a high-five, as documented in 1981, to its present form: a safe way to greet another person.</p>
<p>Some regional differences are also emerging in COVID-19 language. Self-isolate has been the preferred term in British English, whereas <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/88383767?rskey=qxFVgl&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid">self-quarantine</a> is more commonly employed in the U.S. “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/slang-gen-z-made-to-describe-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-4">Rona</a>” or “the rona” as slang for coronavirus has been observed in the U.S. and Australia, but the dictionary editors haven’t documented wide enough usage to warrant its inclusion.</p>
<h2>On the watch list</h2>
<p>A perennial issue for lexicographers is deciding whether or not a term has enough staying power to be enshrined in the dictionary. The COVID-19 pandemic has produced its fair share of new terms that are blends of other words, and many of these are on the editors’ watch list. They include “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/maskne-acne.html">maskne</a>,” an acne outbreak caused by facial coverings; “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/style/zoombombing-zoom-trolling.html">zoombombing</a>,” which is when strangers intrude on video conferences; and “<a href="https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/drinks/g31900654/quarantini-cocktail-recipes/">quarantini</a>,” a cocktail consumed in isolation.</p>
<p>Other new blends include “<a href="https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/what-does-covidiot-mean">covidiot</a>,” for someone who ignores public safety recommendations; “<a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/doomscrolling-during-covid-19-how-you-can-avoid-it">doomscrolling</a>,” which happens when you skim anxiety-inducing pandemic-related stories on your smartphone; and the German term “<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-scare-when-will-hamsterkauf-become-an-english-word/a-52635400">hamsterkauf</a>,” or panic buying. Whether such terms will be in common usage after the pandemic is anyone’s guess.</p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=experts">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get expert takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em>]</p>
<h2>‘COVID’ or ‘Covid’?</h2>
<p>And what of COVID-19 itself? </p>
<p>According to the dictionary’s editors, it first appeared in a Feb. 11 World Health Organization <a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200211-sitrep-22-ncov.pdf?sfvrsn=fb6d49b1_2">situation report</a> as shorthand for “coronavirus disease 2019.”</p>
<p>But should it be written as COVID-19 or as Covid-19? The dictionary’s editors report <a href="https://public.oed.com/blog/using-corpora-to-track-the-language-of-covid-19-update-2/">regional differences for this term</a> as well. </p>
<p>“COVID” is dominant in the U.S., Canada and Australia, while “Covid” is more common in the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa.</p>
<p>Because the Oxford English Dictionary is edited and published in England, British forms take precedence: in the online dictionary, it appears under the headword <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/88575495?redirectedFrom=covid+19#eid">Covid-19</a>. </p>
<p>Earlier health crises also spawned new acronyms and terminology. Nearly 40 years ago, the terms <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/4319?rskey=OP0S2F&result=3&isAdvanced=false#eid">AIDS</a> and <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/345943?redirectedFrom=hiv#eid">HIV</a> entered the language. However, they didn’t appear in the dictionary until the second edition was published at the end of the 1980s.</p>
<p>By releasing updates online, the editors can track language changes as they occur in near real time, and the arbiters of the English language no longer have to play catch-up.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146171/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger J. Kreuz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Updates to the Oxford English Dictionary provide a fascinating glimpse into how language changes in the face of rapid and unprecedented social and economic disruption.Roger J. Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of MemphisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1225282019-09-02T11:15:31Z2019-09-02T11:15:31ZWhy do we say ‘OK’?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289953/original/file-20190828-184192-j9w2v2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's a simple word with a strange history.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-fenale-hand-trendy-colorful-blue-1312110281">Andrii Oleksiienko/shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Why do we say ‘OK’?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>Of all the words in the English language, the word “OK” is pretty new: It’s only been used <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1455146/ok-most-spoken-word-planet-marks-its-175th-anniversary">for about 180 years</a>. </p>
<p>Although it’s become the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-12503686">most spoken word on the planet</a>, it’s kind of a strange word. Sometimes it’s spelled out – “okay” – and sometimes just two letters are used: “OK.” Other times, periods separate the two letters: “O.K.” </p>
<p><a href="http://www.public.asu.edu/%7Egelderen/elly.htm">I’m a syntactician</a>, which means that I’m someone who looks at the structure of language. I also study words and how they change over time.</p>
<p>For example, the word “silly” used to mean “happy” and now means “foolish.” Sometimes new words develop, like “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stan">stan</a>,” which means a person who’s obsessed with a celebrity, and “<a href="https://www.yourdictionary.com/exomoon">exomoon</a>,” a moon outside our solar system.</p>
<p>Linguists – the term for people who study languages – don’t always know why these shifts happen. Usually they’re in response to social changes or scientific discoveries. But the largest dictionary of the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary, is always adding new words. In fact, it added <a href="https://public.oed.com/updates/">1,400 new words in June 2019</a> and will add even more words two more times this year. </p>
<p>“OK,” whose earliest usage is 1839, according to the <a href="https://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/130925">Oxford English Dictionary</a>, generally means things are good or alright.</p>
<p>So why did people start to say “OK”?</p>
<p>We aren’t entirely sure. But some linguists point to how, in the early 19th century, <a href="https://www.history.com/news/the-birth-of-ok-175-years-ago">humorous abbreviations</a> were in vogue. Young people would write things like “KG,” which stood for “know go,” an intentional misspelling of “no go,” when they meant something was impossible. It was a way to play with language.</p>
<p>Likewise, experts think “OK” likely emerged as an abbreviation of “<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/time-for-a-little-word-history-ok/">oll korrect</a>” – which was a jokey way of saying “all correct.” Others say that it derives from “<a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5170008">Old Kinderhook</a>,” a nickname for former U.S. President Martin Van Buren, or that it <a href="https://genius.com/Pete-seeger-all-mixed-up-lyrics">comes from Choctaw</a>, a Native American language.</p>
<p>The nice thing about “OK” is that it’s so versatile. It can be used as a noun, a verb, an adjective, a conjunction or an interjection. It’s also competed, over time, with “<a href="https://www.english-corpora.org/coha/">alright</a>” and “all right” – words and phrases that have identical meanings. </p>
<p>One last important thing to know: If you like to play Scrabble, it’s alright – and even OK – to use “OK” when playing. Just within the past year, it became <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ok-added-to-scrabble-dictionary-2018-9">an accepted word</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elly van Gelderen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The word ‘OK’ has only been around for 180 years, but it’s become the most spoken word on the planet.Elly van Gelderen, Professor of English, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1133872019-03-14T13:14:09Z2019-03-14T13:14:09ZNew dictionary provides nuanced insights into the language of African politics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263655/original/file-20190313-123519-md28kt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In Ghana, "skirt-and-blouse voting" means to vote for different parties for presidential and legislative positions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every country has its own political language. These terms and phrases that have developed over time give distinctive meanings that may not be fully understood by outsiders. Unless we learn them, we may miss critical information about how politics really works.</p>
<p>Our new <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836?rskey=S2GlUD&result=1">dictionary of African politics</a> reveals the witty and insightful political terminology that people in different African countries use to speak truth to power and discuss everyday developments. It shows the importance of language for understanding politics and the varied experience of different nations.</p>
<p>The dictionary serves three key purposes. First, it provides clear and concise overviews of hundreds of key personalities, events and institutions from the colonial period to the present day. These range from Sudanese President <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-18?rskey=uTavSU&result=6">Omar al-Bashir</a> to former South African leader <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-369?rskey=1JOzOD&result=1">Jacob Zuma</a>, through the late Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Laureate <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-207?rskey=niJ4CK&result=1">Wangari Mathaai</a>, and <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-380?rskey=eqpWgn&result=1">Aja Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang</a>, a leading gender activist and the vice president of Gambia. </p>
<p>Second, it explains a rich set of theoretical terms that emerged out of the research on Africa over the last 70 years. These include <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-241?rskey=jM8Mmk&result=2">neo-patrimonialism</a> and <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-126?rskey=DB6e4C&result=3">extraversion</a>, which have become important for global debates about power and the way it’s exercised. </p>
<p>Third - and much more significantly - it allows for a better understanding of the contributions that the continent has made to the practice and understanding of everyday politics. It also makes it possible to share the perceptive and shrewd ways that people speak truth to power in various countries: this is the real reason that the world needs a new dictionary of African politics.</p>
<h2>Crowd-sourcing</h2>
<p>To access this wealth of <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-191?rskey=UBSFIz&result=1">“kona”</a> knowledge (street corner wisdom in Kiswahili), we crowd sourced suggestions for the most relevant and insightful terms using social media. The hundreds of responses we received mean that the dictionary is packed full of fascinating terms from across the continent. These come from a variety of languages including Kiswahili, Chibemba, Kikuyu, Wolof, isiZulu and isiXhosa. There are also Africanised versions of English, French and Portuguese words.</p>
<p>An illustrative example is the wealth of English vocabulary that has emerged from the interaction between local political norms and democratic institutions. This includes the Kenyan model of <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-238?rskey=EdksMo&result=1">“negotiated democracy”</a> – the sharing of political positions between different communities in advance of an election to avoid conflict.</p>
<p>Another is the Nigerian practice of <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-367?rskey=wb49fF&result=11">“zoning”</a>, which was set up to try and ensure that the presidency of Africa’s most populous country alternates between northerners and southerners. That way, no community is permanently excluded from power.</p>
<p>Clothing-related expressions have also emerged in countries like Kenya and Ghana to show voting behaviours. <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-331?rskey=btv8Ex&result=1">“Three-piece suit voting”</a> refers to supporting the same party for all elected positions. On the contrary, <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-307?rskey=9fm46D&result=10">“skirt-and-blouse voting”</a> means to vote for different parties for presidential and legislative elections. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>A series of evocative expressions describe a politician’s move from one party to another – usually from the opposition to the governing party following an inducement. Terms such as floor-crossing or <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-92?rskey=fi4a30&result=2">cross-carpeting</a> are inspired by the parliament’s settings, or nomadic traditions - examples are <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-335?rskey=8YEWOD&result=8">transhumance</a> and <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-247?rskey=fi4a30&result=1">“nomadisme politique”</a>.</p>
<h2>Ingenuity and humour</h2>
<p>The ingredients that shape these terms are decades, if not centuries old. They thus provide an insight into a collective memory that goes back to well before colonial rule. But, language also evolves to keep up with the times. In French, for example, <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-154?rskey=UDYlO6&result=1">glissement</a> means to slide. But, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the word recently took on a whole new meaning. This, as former President Joseph Kabila repeatedly postponed scheduled elections that would see him stand down. Congolese citizens started using the term to refer to the act of deliberately “sliding” past the official election date to retain power indefinitely. </p>
<p>Similarly, in Francophone Africa the term <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-22?rskey=OVO2zc&result=1">“alternance”</a>, used as the demand for a transfer of power, shows a passionate commitment to the liberal-democratic norm of putting limits on the number of terms a president may serve. This has no equivalent in Europe and North America.</p>
<p>While the use of words such as glissement hint at the world-weary cynicism many ordinary people feel towards their leaders, other terms revel in the joy of wordplay. One of our favourites is <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-354?rskey=9XpuIj&result=6">“Watermelon politics”</a>. It refers to an individual that professes to support one political party but in reality belongs to another. </p>
<p>It was coined in Zambia, where activists from the opposition <a href="http://www.lusakavoice.com/2016/08/11/watermelon-campaign-can-history-repeat-itself/">United Party of National Development</a>, (whose colour was then red), pretended to support the governing party, the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/patrioticfrontzambia/">Patriotic Front</a>, (whose colour was green), to avoid reprisals. They were thus depicted as “green on the outside, but red on the inside”. </p>
<p>Such expressions show the ingenuity and humour with which citizens evade despotism and exercise their democratic rights. They also show how much researchers and journalists miss when they don’t pay attention to African ideas and concepts. Thus, the best reason to read this dictionary is to learn about the political ingenuity of African citizens and to gain insights into local political ideas and frames of reference.</p>
<p>The dictionary is also about much more than that. It includes one of the most thorough timelines of African political events ever compiled, with direct links to entries that put critical events into context. It also provides useful overviews of the topics that are of most interest to students. These range from from <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-162?rskey=x1r3cO&result=26">HIV/Aids</a> to <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-151?rskey=Yl2bUJ&result=1">gender quotas</a>, and from the anti-<a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-30?rskey=pwVNsB&result=6">apartheid</a> struggle to the Rwandan <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-153?rskey=05849U&result=17">genocide</a>. </p>
<p>Our hope is that it does justice to the efforts of the many people who took time to send in the suggestions that have enriched it, and that everyone who takes a look learns something new.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113387/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nic Cheeseman and the other authors of this piece wrote the dictionary referred to in this piece for Oxford University Press.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eloïse Bertrand and Sa'eed Husaini do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A dictionary of African politics reveals the witty and insightful political terminology that people in different African countries use.Nic Cheeseman, Professor of Democracy, University of BirminghamEloïse Bertrand, PhD Student in Politics and International Studies, University of WarwickSa'eed Husaini, DPhil Candidate, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/902232018-01-17T04:07:34Z2018-01-17T04:07:34ZWhen we needed a new word, Twitter gave us ‘milkshake duck’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202239/original/file-20180117-53324-pg38y5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=543%2C0%2C1845%2C1284&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What is this milkshake duck that the “whole internet loves”? “A lovely duck that drinks milkshakes”. Had anyone heard this slang term before this week, when the Macquarie Dictionary announced it as their 2017 Word of the Year? Probably not. Unless they move in certain circles on the internet. Surely this is a joke!</p>
<p>Indeed, the term was coined as a joke. Able to be used as both a noun and a verb, it has existed since June 12 2016 when Australian cartoonist Ben Ward tweeted it to cover a trend that he had satirised for which there wasn’t a name: a non-celebrity enjoying a viral rise overnight on the internet, followed shortly thereafter by a rapid fall after being outed on the internet because of an unsavoury act in their past. In Ward’s tweet the cuddly duck is accused of being a vicious racist.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"741904787361300481"}"></div></p>
<p>There is no denying that the term is useful, but is it a totally new phenomenon of the internet age? Efforts to coin words that people wish would exist have a long history and enjoyed a particular vogue in the early 1980s before the rise of commercial internet providers. </p>
<p>For instance, in 1983, in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/64119.The_Meaning_of_Liff">The Meaning of Liff</a>, Douglas Adams and John Lloyd compiled a “dictionary of things that there aren’t any English words for yet, based on names of places in England”. A typical example is Shoeburyness — “the vague uncomfortable feeling you get when sitting on a seat that is still warm from somebody else’s bottom”.</p>
<h2>From obscurity to notoriety</h2>
<p>Ward tweeted what he obviously thought was a pretty good joke about the power of social media to adulate, elevate, and then reject. What Ward didn’t expect to happen was that it would morph into a meme. </p>
<p>A year after Ward’s tweet the term came to the attention of Oxford Dictionaries Online, via the podcast Reply All, after a <a href="https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/8x9wyv/gamergate-feminism-cyberpunk-an-interview-with-the-last-night-designer">high-profile gamer, Tim Soret</a>, was designated as a milkshake duck when it emerged that he had been involved in 2014’s notorious online sexist harassment scandal “Gamergate”. The Oxford Dictionaries Radar column of June 22 2017 noted that the usage of the term milkshake duck was rising and promised to keep an eye on it.</p>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/08/words-of-the-year">Comments column of The New Yorker</a>, the eminent Harvard scholar Louis Menand says: “People prefer to have their neologisms boil up unbidden from the global electronic soup — like, for instance, ‘milkshake duck’.”</p>
<p>Menand’s comment emphasises the inarguable role of social media in the coining of new words, but he resists explaining “milkshake duck” and suggests that his readers Google it. The term is also included in the American Dialect Society’s 2017 Word of the Year list, which announced “fake news” as its winner. Interestingly, fake news, the meaning of which has changed significantly in the past year, was <a href="https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/news/view/article/431/">Macquarie’s Word of the Year for 2016</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/news/view/article/495/">Macquarie committee stated</a> in the justification for their choice of “milkshake duck” that it was a “much-needed term to describe something that we are seeing more and more of, not just on the internet but now across all types of media”. </p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if the term does enter the mainstream. No one whom I have spoken to since Monday had heard it used before its announcement as word of the year, but I expect it will gain some impetus with the push from Macquarie. </p>
<h2>Sniglets and fugitives</h2>
<p>The image of the duck is ridiculous and has no discernible connection to any real event. Its Dadaist absurdity is reminiscent of a Marx Brothers’ film or the anti-joke riddle: “What’s the difference between a duck?” “One of its legs is both the same.” It joins a long line of neologisms coined to meet a specific purpose. </p>
<p>In 1984, Rich Hall, a comedian whom many of us know from Stephen Fry’s QI, published a book, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1021565.Sniglets_Snig_lit_">Sniglets</a>, a sniglet being “any word that doesn’t appear in the dictionary, but should”. </p>
<p>My favourites are “mustgo” for an item that’s been in your fridge for so long that it’s a science experiment, “Xiidigitation” for the practice of trying to determine the year that a film was made by deciphering the Roman numerals at the end of the credits, and “merferator” for the cardboard cylinder inside a roll of toilet paper. There have reportedly been English classrooms where students have been encouraged to create sniglets. What a good idea!</p>
<p>Also in the 1980s, Barbara Wallraff created a feature, “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/fugitives/index.htm">Word Fugitives</a>”, in The Atlantic online that capitalised on this fashion for recreational word creation. She invited readers to suggest words that they would like to see available and she and other readers would do their best to coin a new word to represent the phenomenon. For instance, is there a word for when a pet and its owner look alike?</p>
<p>In the meantime, are there any words that readers of this article can suggest are needed and that will deserve a place in the Macquarie Dictionary?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90223/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roslyn Petelin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>‘Milkshake duck’, a word created in 2016 on Twitter, is the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year. Efforts to coin new words have a long history and were particularly in vogue in the 1980s.Roslyn Petelin, Associate Professor in Writing, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/787642017-06-11T20:31:01Z2017-06-11T20:31:01ZHere’s one to gymnologize over: the case for bringing back snollygostery, trumpery and humbuggery<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175462/original/file-20170623-12628-fwrad3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Oxford English Dictionary overflows with words that have been created (most during the 1800s) to tilt at governments of various sorts.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Words and expressions come and go. Sometimes you can understand why they don’t linger. It’s hard to imagine there was ever much call for <em>peristeronic</em>, “suggestive of pigeons” – and there’s no evidence that <em>gymnologize</em>, “to argue whilst naked”, or <em>decacuminated</em>, “having the tops cut off”, have even been used.</p>
<p>Words of such spectacular pomp and pointlessness only ever had lives inside dictionaries (early lexicographers were notorious for making them up).</p>
<p>But sometimes we seem to let extremely useful expressions drop by the wayside. Humans suffer from a kind of congenital leximania, an irresistible passion for creating new words (such as <em>leximania</em>). In our lust for neologisms we lose sight of those expressions already doing a very fine job.</p>
<p>Here is a handful of such words – they have political applications and are today as apt and as ept as they ever were.</p>
<h2>Political smutting and besmearing</h2>
<p>Now is not the time to let <em>roorback</em> go – a neatly packaged expression that covers any false report, or slander, propagated for political purposes. </p>
<p>It derives from the name of a fictitious author <a href="http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_roorback_hoax">Baron von Roorback</a>. Published in 1844, his account of a gang of slaves destined for the Louisiana sugar mills was intended to disgrace James K. Polk, the Democratic candidate for president of the United States. The humbug was exposed, but usually the timing of roorbacks is such that they can’t be detected before voters go to the polls. </p>
<p>Clearly, spreading disparaging furphies for political gain is not new. The word was popular throughout the 19th century, even used a little into the 20th century, before it quietly shuffled off the lexical coil. </p>
<p>But today’s digital world is providing the perfect ecosystem for the roorback to flourish. A word for “political dirty tricks” – how could we let that one go?</p>
<h2>Monumental talknophical assumnacy</h2>
<p><em>Snollygoster</em> is another wonderful creation to come out of the USA (around the same time as <em>roorback</em>). It could refer generally to smart people without principles, but its reference narrowed rather quickly to the crafty and unprincipled politician. The definition <a href="http://politicaldictionary.com/words/snollygoster/">provided by the Columbus Dispatch</a> (October 28, 1895) is worth repeating in full: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>A snollygoster is a fellow who wants office, regardless of party, platform or principles, and who, whenever he wins, gets there by the sheer force of monumental talknophical assumnacy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Whenever I ponder the phrase “monumental talknophical assumnancy”, I’m reminded of Alice’s words on hearing the poem <em>Jabberwocky</em>: “Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas – only I don’t exactly know what they are.” Talknophical assumnancy – there’s a lot of it about.</p>
<p>The delightful name <em>snollygoster</em> conceals its nasty origins. The word is probably connected to <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Snallygaster.html?id=yEkvI6CwCxcC&redir_esc=y"><em>snallygaster</em></a>, a reshaping of Pennsylvania German <em>schnelle Geister</em> (“quick spirits”) – dragon-like creatures which, as folklore describes, made a practice of stealing children and chickens from unsuspecting farm folk. </p>
<p>The shift from “grotesque gargantua” to “political shyster” is telling. But it’ll take more than a hex sign on a building or rabbit’s-foot talisman to keep these modern-day <em>snollygosters</em> at bay.</p>
<h2>A flourishing of ocracies</h2>
<p>The Oxford English Dictionary overflows with words that have been created (most during the 1800s) to tilt at governments of various sorts. One stands out and that is <em>kakistocracy</em>, the creation of English writer <a href="http://www.thomaslovepeacock.net/Elphin.html">Thomas Love Peacock</a> for “government by its most unprincipled citizens” (from Greek <em>kakistos</em> “the worst”). In fact little needs to be done to rehabilitate his word.</p>
<p>Its comeback of late has been spectacular, with <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/world/2017/01/donald-trump-ushers-new-era-kakistocracy-government-worst-people">headlines</a> heralding a new era of kakistocratical rule.</p>
<p>So will we be seeing a reappearance of other “ocracies”? <em>Foolocracy</em> and <em>kleptocracy</em> spring to mind.</p>
<h2>Trumpery and puffery</h2>
<p>Though strictly not a political term, the old word <em>trumpery</em> has always had close links with political shenanigans, even before it acquired its extra significance today.</p>
<p>The word appeared in English in the 1400s, meaning “deception; fraud”. It derives from the verb <em>trump</em> “to deceive; cheat” – not to be confused with the other <em>trump</em> verb around at that time meaning “to blow a trumpet” or “break wind audibly” (though it seems to me these <em>trumps</em> have always been tightly linked).</p>
<p><em>Trumpery</em> then shifted to mean “something of less value than it seems” before extending to “something of no value at all” (applied to abstract things, objects and people). </p>
<p>Of course, <em>trumpery</em> has deception at its root, but the <em>-ery</em> ending adds that extra layer of unscrupulousness (bringing to mind <em>trickery</em>, <em>humbuggery</em>, <em>jiggery-pokery</em> and a pile of other seedy “ery” words).</p>
<p>And while there is the other positive <em>trump</em> (that appears in expressions like <em>turn up trumps</em>), it’s worth highlighting that this <em>trump</em> is nothing more than a corrupted form of <em>triumph</em> (an alternative pronunciation that appeared in the 1500s). </p>
<p>The two <em>trumps</em> are currently on a collision course, and we know from experience that rarely do positive meanings prevail when senses coincide in this way. Besides, there’s always been a dishonest whiff around even the <em>trump card</em> in its <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trump%20card">extended uses</a> — and, as the behaviour of words over time shows, dishonest whiffs will just get whiffier. </p>
<p><em>Trumpery</em>, <em>kakistocracy</em>, <em>snollygoster</em> and <em>roorback</em> are words worthy of a phoenix-like re-application — let’s pick them up, dust them off and put them to work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78764/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Burridge does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Here is a handful of extremely useful expressions with political application which have fallen by the wayside, but remain apt and adept today.Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/665702016-10-18T19:11:38Z2016-10-18T19:11:38ZHow the dictionary is totes taking up the vernacular<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141559/original/image-20161013-16206-1txwdh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C148%2C1500%2C992&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Australian National Dictionary is charting our rapidly evolving language.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian National Dictionary</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s a new arrival on the dictionary scene – the much-anticipated second edition of the Australian National Dictionary, known fondly as <a href="http://australiannationaldictionary.com.au">AND</a>.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/current-issue">I recently wrote</a>, these beautiful two volumes should certainly put to rest any fears people might have about the continued place of “tree-dictionaries” in an age of e-books and digital libraries.</p>
<p>These more than 16,000 Australianisms have generated lots of excitement – and not surprisingly. Words are the most observable part of any language and English-speakers seem fascinated by the ins and outs of expressions. </p>
<p>Look at the media attention when dictionaries announce the winner of their Word of the Year competition. There’s nowhere near the same excitement with other aspects of the language. </p>
<p>There were no breaking news stories when linguists announced developments affecting the conjunction “because” (for example, “I’ve been missing out on sleep because binge-watching Game of Thrones” or “I missed the ending because fell asleep”). </p>
<p>Dictionary editors are among the new celebrities, answering questions like: what is the longest word in the language? Is there a word to describe those who drink their own bathwater? How many words do speakers know? And, perhaps the thorniest question of all – when should new expressions enter the dictionary? </p>
<p>Vocabulary changes more than other aspects of language and lexicographers are constantly redrawing the exclusion boundary for marginal vocabulary items. “Yeah-no” has been around since the 1990s, but is only now appearing in dictionaries. </p>
<p>And while many original misspellings now have entries, such as “miniscule” (with its erroneous “i”) and even “nucular”, an entry for “accomodation” (with one “m”) seems a long way off. </p>
<p>It’s not easy for dictionary-makers. They are seen as the guardians of the language and when they take on board expressions like “yeah-no” and “nucular”, we hear howls about declining standards. Yet people will usually discard dictionaries if they don’t keep up-to-date. </p>
<p>Dictionary-making was more straightforward for early lexicographers, who sourced words almost exclusively from books. So, it was formal written language that typically made it into dictionaries.</p>
<p>Words were written on cards each time they were used and, when there was a substantial collection of cards, it could be established that a word was in general usage. So, they were largely respectable expressions, and anything that snuck under the radar would be well and truly branded (originally with symbols like asterisks or daggers, and later with more precise usage labels like “low”, “barbarous”, “vulgar”, as appeared in <a href="http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/dic/johnson/1755johnsonsdictionary.html">Samuel Johnson’s 1755 dictionary</a>). </p>
<p>These days it’s all very different. Lexicographers consider an array of different language forms, including newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, menus, memos, TV and radio broadcasts and, of course, emails, chat-room discussions and blogs.</p>
<p>So it’s not surprising to find that the informal aspect has been significantly boosted in the new-look AND. Of course, this reflects the strong attachment to the vernacular in Australia, but it’s also in keeping with the marked shift towards informal ways of speaking and writing generally – even public language is becoming progressively more casual and everyday.</p>
<p>So dictionaries are now much faster to take up “slanguage”. In the Collins Official Scrabble Words, even “innit” (“isn’t it”), “grrl” (“feisty female”) and “thang” (“thing”) have the stamp of approval. Once it could take years and years for such colloquialisms to appear in print, perhaps then to be picked up by lexicographers and placed in some dictionary — or perhaps never. </p>
<p>So like many other dictionaries these days, AND shows an assortment of distinguished entries and boisterous slang. Additions from the world of economics and politics, for example, include sedate terms-of-art (“aspirational voter”, “economic rationalism”, “negative gearing”, “scrutineer”) as well as colloquialisms (“keep the bastards honest”, “Hawkespeak”, “hip-pocket nerve”, “wombat trail”). </p>
<p>And the current editorial team has continued the AND tradition and not tagged these entries with labels like “colloquial” or “slang” (though “-ist” language is occasionally labelled derogatory).</p>
<p>So don’t believe the concerned hype that accompanied the 2014 edition of Tony Thorne’s Dictionary of Contemporary Slang. It added only three new Australianisms (“tockley” for “penis”, “ort” for “buttocks” and “unit” for “bogan”), prompting a frenzy of <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27805070">headlines like</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The rise and fall of Australian slang.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I’m not sure how Thorne missed “selfie”, Australia’s contribution to the international lexicon – after all, it was the Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year in 2013. </p>
<p>Articles expressed the fear that the glory days of Australian slang were over. AND should help to quell such fears – “hornbag”, “budgie smugglers”, “grey nomad”, “chateau cardboard” are among the many treasures you will find there.</p>
<p>Some of these entries appear so scruffy that you might wonder at the wisdom of the editors including them at all (“snot block”, “ranga”, “reg grundies”, “ambo”, “rurosexual”, “seppo”, “trackie daks”, “spunk rat”, “goon of fortune” come to mind). Of course, slang is in the eye of the beholder – even Samuel Johnson included a few (unbranded) personal favourites, like “belly timber” for “food”.</p>
<p>But in this case, you can take comfort in the fact that these expressions will have been tracked and meticulously analysed. They aren’t newly minted coinages and wouldn’t be there unless they “had legs”. </p>
<p>It seems to me almost impossible for printed dictionaries to keep up with the changing nature of vocabulary these days. People just love creating words. </p>
<p>In fact, scientists have recently discovered that learning the meaning of new words can stimulate exactly those same pleasure circuits in our brain as sex, gambling, drugs and eating, the pleasure-associated region called the <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(14)01207-X">ventral striatum</a>. </p>
<p>The surge of excitement when we encounter a new word is the recently coined “neologasm”. And that really says it all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66570/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Burridge does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Our communications revolution is changing the way we write and speak, and ‘Slanglish’ has never had it so good.Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.