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stranger
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Howdy! I'm new. I love old English words and I'm really excited that I found this forum. I had a blog about words, but it's temporarily closed.
Okay, this might sound a little odd. I was (am) quite upset about the word ginormous being added to M-W. I had a dream that David Bowie, when asked for a better addition, said the word "zebrose." I then defined it as "having the qualities of a zebra."
So, that was the word I coined.
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Carpal Tunnel
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ginormous
Am I the only person who thinks this should be spelled gianormous? Suppose so.
Welcome to the board.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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ginormous
Am I the only person who thinks this should be spelled gianormous? well, why? (Etymology: gigantic + enormous - M-W) - joe (not one to let things lie) friday edit: Merriam-Webster explains itself.
Last edited by tsuwm; 07/23/07 06:42 PM.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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lisa: As a former prescriptivist I would have felt much the same way. I also used to collect neologisms but when I found they proliferated faster than I could record them, I quit. I am dalehileman@verizon.net
dalehileman
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I like zebroic.
welcome to the Board, elisabeth!
formerly known as etaoin...
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daleh, I think the trick to collecting neologisms (if one must) is to limit oneself somewhat in the manner of the dictionary wallahs.
to wit, ginormous gathers 242 hits at Google[Books] and 362 at Google[News], fairly significant numbers.
-tsu wwftd (I've got some neologisms lined up for next week) master
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well, why?
gia- as in giant and -normous as in enormous. I guess (therefore) I am.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Am I the only personEvidently not, but mine is a minority view. gianormous 22.3K ghits ginormous 1.22M ghits
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Am I the only personEvidently not, but mine is a minority view. gianormous 22.3K ghits ginormous 1.22M ghits perhaps one day it will rate a var. Google[Books] - 7 Google[News] - 2
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Pooh-Bah
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tsu: I agree and often have wondered how dictionary makers decide when a word is ripe. I used this arbitrary rule in compiling my collection: I would reject it if it got fewer than 263 Ghits
dalehileman
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I have wondered how dictionary makers decide when a word is ripe. I can tell you that, although they have recently been paying more attention to internet usage, they still rely on "indication of wider use" in book AND newsprint sources to lend credibility and show "coinages that successfully made it into broader currency." (quoted words from Jesse Sheidlower) that's why I check Books and News rather than the very bloated general numbers from the Web.
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Often, particularly with low frequency words, i.e., words with Ghit counts under 1000, a large percentage of the hits are just repetitions of one post, quoted in other places or linked to from other places.
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