Image from Horia Varlan

It’s been four years since “bootylicious” and “hottie” were first added to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary and made headlines. At the time, I remember finding it highly unusual that such non-words would not only pervade our language, but also be embraced in such a public, official way. Now, Merriam-Webster’s Web site highlights new words that made the current year’s edition, including a section on “Favorite Words (Not In the Dictionary)” that were submitted by users based on an online survey. (“Ginormous” was a winning favorite in 2007.) The Web site also features an “Open Dictionary” where users submit new words complete with definition for other users to rate. If popular enough, the new word can rank high enough to make the publisher’s online “Top 10” list.

While I think it’s important that language continually evolves in a dynamic and interactive way, I think that language now is actually devolving. The lines are quickly blurring between what is a legitimate word that can be submitted on a college entrance essay and what is simply Internet jargon.

So what exactly is behind society’s lexical nonchalance? Within the past five years, social networking and our access to technology has significantly changed our approach to lifestyle, relationships, and how we conduct business. The attitude that everything is possible on the Internet, whether it’s forming a relationship with someone you will only ever know online or reaching a new customer halfway across the globe, is what gives us both the confidence and justification to not only create but also manipulate words to shorten the written word so people save time and ultimately say less. We’ve created a set of social conventions for Internet interaction, referred to as “Netiquette,” that have further ingrained these words into our vocabulary by establishing guidelines for their appropriate usage.

I’m not saying that pop culture shouldn’t ever influence language. According to Merriam-Webster, terms such as “hip hop” came about in the 1980s based on the word hip meaning “trendy” or “fashionable” with the leaping movement hop. Shakespeare also used phrases in his writing that are defined by the dictionary publisher and are still in use today. My hope is that tomorrow’s new words will only be added to the dictionary when they can be defined by root meaning and not by a pop artist’s reference or Internet slang.

While I may never understand why “telenovela” made the Merriam-Webster’s English dictionary rather than staying in my Spanish Level 1 textbook, one thing can be certain: meaningful words can do a lot more than just get in the way. (Insert emoticon here.)