[hackerspaces] hackerspace is now an English word

[Sam Ley]

Oh certainly, and their annual releases of words they've decided to catalog
are always interesting, it is just a personal pet peeve of mine when the
media sets up the OED as a prescriber of language, rather than a describer,
and the inevitable associated imagery of some secret court where robed men
discuss "twerk" and whether or not it deserves to be enshrined in the holy
bible of language.

To end on a less pedantic note, I can highly recommend the book "The
Professor and the Madman" by Simon Winchester, it is an interesting read
about the early days of the Oxford English Dictionary, and some of the
bizarre individuals involved in it's early creation. Entertaining and
educational (Funtertainment! Put THAT in your dictionary!)

-Sam


On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 12:57 PM, matt <matt at nycresistor.com> wrote:

> while that is true, oxford is widely regarded as the foremost authority on
> the language.
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 2:56 PM, Sam Ley <sam.ley at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Just to be clear, there is no "official" list of what is or is not in the
>> English language - the Oxford dictionaries (in their various editions)
>> reflect common usage of words only - there is no "dictating". There isn't
>> some secret cabal that decides what is or isn't a word - they just watch
>> what is being used and how, and describe it accordingly.
>>
>> Interesting article on the topic:
>> http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=6481
>>
>> -Sam
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 12:51 PM, Walter van Holst <walter at revspace.nl>wrote:
>>
>>> On 29/08/2013 20:42, Mitch Altman wrote:
>>> > The word "hackerspace" has officially been added to the English
>>> language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary!
>>> >
>>> > http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/hackerspace
>>>
>>> This would warrant a blog on hackerspaces.org, wouldn't it?
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>>  Walter
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Discuss mailing list
>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
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