To be fair, the OED includes about as many foreign loanwords as English itself does, this dear Germanic mongrel of ours rolled in French with all these multinational patches stuck on. I think their requirement is along the lines of "the word must be used in X reputable English-language sources across Y media" before they add it -- Indo-European or otherwise.
"Muggle" is in there. "Bootylicious," iirc, is in there. Part of what makes me fangirl the OED so much is how it catalogues the history of English usage -- even the relatively obscure terms and weird slang and words that haven't been used in seven or eight hundred years or so (yay "soothliche").
Someday I want to own a copy. It's horribly expensive, but whenever (if) they put out a third edition hardbound (...the second ed. is as old as I am, really? o.O) I totally want it (because $1000 for a one-time purchase is better than $300 a year ad infinitum, right? Right?).
bard_linn would probably kill me either way, sob...I wish I could go back to college for linguistics and get a proper
( ... )
I minored in linguistics too! And I'm still unclear as to what a gerund is! (I suppose that's what I get for doing it half in French.)
...no, wait, I minored in Microbiology. I only had 5 linguistics classes. :(
I just don't agree that hikikomori is a loanword. There's a perfectly good English equivalent in 'shut-in' (with similar connotations, even) and I can't imagine it used outside of Japanese-related media (reporting on suicide rates in Japan, or anime/manga, or the like).
All the other words are perfectly cromulent English words - Muggle and bootylicious both encompass unique definitions that make them useful neologisms. And also, they're fun to say... which is something they have in common with hikikomori.
I'm just saying. The OED may be a magical book of magic, but I think it's trolling you. XD
(The third edition is really going to be $1000?? I could buy three laptops for that! Isn't there an app for that? :p)
I see what you mean, and when you put it that way, I agree. None of their usage examples are particularly demonstrative of any sort of... English reclamation of the word.
...Being trolled by the OED is certainly an experience I never expected! XD;
(I have no idea if there's even going to BE a third edition or if the OUP is going decide it isn't worth it. All I know is the second is currently priced at $995 without the supplements they've done in the past two and a half decades, so I figure... actually the third ed. would probably be even more, since they'd need the extra paper and binding costs for all those extra words.
There SHOULD be an app for that. But I'm so behind the times I don't even have any devices that run apps, and it'd probably be ridiculously expensive anyway, alas.)
Comments 5
Reply
I mean... even 'kimono' has proper Greek roots (according to 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding') but hikikomori looks... like one of 'em furren wurds.
I call shenanigans. And possibly trolling on the part of the OED. :p
Reply
"Muggle" is in there. "Bootylicious," iirc, is in there. Part of what makes me fangirl the OED so much is how it catalogues the history of English usage -- even the relatively obscure terms and weird slang and words that haven't been used in seven or eight hundred years or so (yay "soothliche").
Someday I want to own a copy. It's horribly expensive, but whenever (if) they put out a third edition hardbound (...the second ed. is as old as I am, really? o.O) I totally want it (because $1000 for a one-time purchase is better than $300 a year ad infinitum, right? Right?).
bard_linn would probably kill me either way, sob...I wish I could go back to college for linguistics and get a proper ( ... )
Reply
...no, wait, I minored in Microbiology. I only had 5 linguistics classes. :(
I just don't agree that hikikomori is a loanword. There's a perfectly good English equivalent in 'shut-in' (with similar connotations, even) and I can't imagine it used outside of Japanese-related media (reporting on suicide rates in Japan, or anime/manga, or the like).
All the other words are perfectly cromulent English words - Muggle and bootylicious both encompass unique definitions that make them useful neologisms. And also, they're fun to say... which is something they have in common with hikikomori.
I'm just saying. The OED may be a magical book of magic, but I think it's trolling you. XD
(The third edition is really going to be $1000?? I could buy three laptops for that! Isn't there an app for that? :p)
Reply
I see what you mean, and when you put it that way, I agree. None of their usage examples are particularly demonstrative of any sort of... English reclamation of the word.
...Being trolled by the OED is certainly an experience I never expected! XD;
(I have no idea if there's even going to BE a third edition or if the OUP is going decide it isn't worth it. All I know is the second is currently priced at $995 without the supplements they've done in the past two and a half decades, so I figure... actually the third ed. would probably be even more, since they'd need the extra paper and binding costs for all those extra words.
There SHOULD be an app for that. But I'm so behind the times I don't even have any devices that run apps, and it'd probably be ridiculously expensive anyway, alas.)
Reply
Leave a comment