Whether you ’re looking to take up your own religion , swallow a sword , quit smoking , find Atlantis , corrupt the Moon , sink a battleship , do your own surgery , or become a ninja , our fresh bookBe Amazingcovers all the substantive life acquirement ! This calendar week , we ’ll be excerpting a few lesson from the Quran .
New word drink down up in the dictionary all the clock time , thanks to a handy — and almost maniacally extensive — editorial organization . If you require your countersign to make into the big books , you ’ll postulate to slue it past the door guard .
Step 1: INVENT A WORD AND, MORE IMPORTANT, GET IT IN PRINT
Over at the Oxford English Dictionary , they ’ll assure you that the the animation of a new word starts out in their Reading Programme section , where about 50 people drop their 9 - to-5s gobbling up all the print material they can get their hands on : novel , tv transcripts , song lyrics , newspapers , magazine . . . anything . They ’re on the watch for new words ( or innovative consumption of one-time , mundane words ) . New find end up on a searchable electronic database that Oxford calls its " Incomings . “
Step 2: BUTTER UP YOUR EDITOR
In our experience , this is pretty much " Step 2" in any originative labor . And it ’s no different in the universe of words . Each new Holy Writ under consideration is assigned to a specific editor program , who then start cross its employment and popularity in the long - term . How long - terminal figure ? Try 5 years .
The rule of thumb at Oxford is that a word can’t be included in the dictionary until it’s appeared 5 times, in 5 different sources, over a period of 5 years.
We do n’t know for sure , but if we were word editors , we ’d be a wad more likely to acknowledge that all - crucial 5th usage if there was a bottle of 12 - year - one-time Scotch leave on our desk . Just sayin ' .
Step 3: STAY POPULAR OR PERISH
Yes , the lexicon is just like junior high . Dictionaries are meant to tape English as a living spoken communication , not a museum showpiece . So when a word falls out of utilisation , it can osculate its spot on the all - dictionary cheerleading team good - bye . In 2003 , theSan Francisco Chroniclereported that the expert folk music at Merriam - Webster opened the doors for 10,000 up - and - coming new words and usages , including : " phat,“ " Frankenfood,“ and " cheesed off . “ ( This should give you hope for your preferred password . Whatever it is , it ’s get ta be better than " cheesed off . “ ) But , that same yr , several hundred password got the axe . Among them , " snollygoster,“ which once ( back when your granny had all her teeth ) refer to an unscrupulous politician , and " Vitamin G,“ which has n’t technically disappeared but is now phone " vitamin B2 . “
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