Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Will Blogs ever be legitimate?

Do my readers (I've got to be kidding!) think that Blogs will ever be a legitimate source for lexicographers? Before the Internet, written materials, such as newspapers, books, magazines, etc. were the sources for words. Now that the Internet is racing away everyday, how important are Web sites, Blogs, discussion boards, etc., for describing the evolution or use of words in dictionary entries?

I ask the question because of my pet word, "epicaricacy." As I stroll through Google's 6,000 plus entries for the word, I find that it is discussed quite a bit. On this site where they make fun of Miss North Dakota (for heaven's sake!), ManofFireandLight says, "Epicaricacy is pretty much descriptive of the British sense of humour and the Japanese to an even greater extent." Not a brilliant comment of course, but the word seems to be used by non-linguaphiles.

Will it ever be cited in major dictionaries because of that? Or does it need to be cited in more important sources? Most likely the latter.

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