I often write about interesting new words coming into our language, but they come at a cost. Theyre now jostling with our older words for space in our dictionaries, the oldies being threatened with eviction.
In September 2008, the lexicographers at Collins dictionary started preparing for their forthcoming new edition and found that over 2,000 new words needed to be included. To make room, some lovely old words would have to go. (See the endangered words list below.)
This announcement created a huge storm of protest by word lovers everywhere, so a last-minute reprieve was granted, for 24 words. If Collins can find evidence of these words being used in everyday speech and writing, they wont be dropped from the next edition. The deadline set for the doomed words is February 2009. Being a cruciverbalist , I have to say that the thought of any word being on death row sends a shiver up my spine.
In fact, without embrangling the matter, I vilipend this abstergent move, finding it quite oppugnant to cast a malison on our more agrestic words and condemning them to caliginosity. I wonder if their caducity is really apodeictic and would like to see them becoming roborant instead of being exuviated.
Various British celebrities have been enlisted in the Save a Word campaign to rescue the 24 words. Politicians, media personalities and the current Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, have vowed to use the words in their poetry, speeches and TV programmes to bump the words up the rankings.
Stephen Fry has chosen fubsy and Andrew Motion will support skirr, a word he has occasionally used to describe the sound of beating wings.
The Times newspaper has also called on readers to save some of the victims from exile by voting online for words they feel are worthy of saving.
Ill keep an eye on any announcements Collins make in February about the final cut, but meanwhile let me know which of these words youd like to see being rescued.
Happy Puzzling!
ENDANGERED WORD LIST
- Abstergent: Cleansing or scouring
- Agrestic: Rural; rustic; unpolished; uncouth
- Apodeictic: Unquestionably true by virtue of demonstration
- Caducity: Perishableness; senility
- Caliginosity: Dimness; darkness
- Compossible: Possible in coexistence with something else
- Embrangle: To confuse or entangle
- Exuviate: To shed (a skin or similar outer covering)
- Fatidical: Prophetic
- Fubsy: Short and stout; squat
- Griseous: Streaked or mixed with grey; somewhat grey
- Malison: A curse
- Mansuetude: Gentleness or mildness
- Muliebrity: The condition of being a woman
- Niddering: Cowardly
- Nitid: Bright; glistening
- Olid: Foul-smelling
- Oppugnant: Combative, antagonistic or contrary
- Periapt: A charm or amulet
- Recrement: Waste matter; refuse; dross
- Roborant: Tending to fortify or increase strength
- Skirr: A whirring or grating sound, as of the wings of birds in flight
- Vaticinate: To foretell; prophesy
- Vilipend: To treat or regard with contempt
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