Dictionary Wars (or words of mass destraction). By DA.

The Oxford English Dictionary has recently added such words as bling-bling, pilates, rehab, docusoaps, reiki, bad ass, G-spot, alcopops and drum-and-bass.

So one could say "I'm just out of rehab and I'm going to meet up with a badass bling-bling, drink some alcopops and start shooting my docusoap on reiki versus pilates which'll have a drum-and-bass soundtrack."
I'm afraid I couldn't find a place for G-spot. (fnarr fnarr!)

The chaps at Collins Dictionary are not impressed by this. They, as you may already know, are the official dictionary of Scrabble.
"No" They insist. "You can't have anoraky on a double word score!"
"Klingon isn't a real word!" They admonish. (Even if the K is on a triple letter score...)

Publishing dictionaries is not an exciting business and this is obviously a way for the Oxford University Press to raise the profile of their product. Maybe there's another opportunity here?

American dictionaries such as Longmans and Merriam Webster may like to include some new words invented by their President, George "W" Bush?

Some examples (from Bushisms.com) are:

resignate which means; resonate (I think).
foreign-handed which means, errr... something to do with foreign policy?
subliminabable probably means; subliminal.
inoculate In the context "this is a way to help inoculate me about what has come and is coming." So it probably means; warn / prepare?
terriers I think that one is; Terrorists.
analyzation A true Bushism! Means; analysis.
emotionality Means; feeling of emotion.
forethought As in "the forethought of our thinking". Probably; forefront.

Ooh dear, there's smoke coming out of the spell checker now and...

Um?

I'm afraid that all these Bushisms are affectating my thought-prospects to an unedifecatory degredation.
Eulogistic procrastivity must desisterate imminately.

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© Winamop 2003

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