The Lexicographer's Rules

Do you pronounce the word "both" differently from other English-speakers? Take the survey and tell others about it. The more respondents we get, the more we'll know.

Which term do you use: garbanzo bean or chickpea? The survey is here.

My annual buzzwords of the year piece for the New York Times has appeared today, featuring expressions such as aporkalypse, swine flu party, El Stiffo, Octomom, and sexting. Also, there's a discussion going on about them on the New York Times Ideas blog, where you can leave your own comments about my choices, or give your own buzzword of the year.

Recently I bought a copy of Birds of the Pacific Coast by William Ayres Eliot at B Street Books in San Mateo.

It is a charming book, filled with color plates (which you can see here) and interesting tidbits, but I bought it because it contained this handwritten letter inserted in its pages:


.


It says this:

"Those bird watchers who first spotted the two white Crested Laughing Thrushes from Southeast Asia may want to know they're big (and loud) on Russian Hill, hanging out in Louis Petri's lush property and being fed by the fancy likes of Elinor Chatfield-Taylor and Mary Keesling. Noisy devils, but amusing — The birds, I mean. The feathered ones — that is... Heckwithit—"

The two women were stars of the San Francisco social scene in the 1950s and perhaps later. Louis Petri was a wine magnate.

The letter was probably written after 1948, which is when, according to the obituary linked above, Elinor Chatfield-Taylor moved to San Francisco.

The book is inscribed with the name "Vera Gillett" on the flyleaf, but I could turn up no one by the name who might obviously be connected to the big names above.

The American Dialect Society is now accepting nominations for the "word of the year" of 2009, as well as for the "word of the decade" for 2000-2009

What is the word or phrase which best characterizes the year or the decade? What expression most reflects the ideas, events, and themes which have occupied the English-speaking world, especially North America?

Nominations should be sent to woty@americandialect.org. They can also be made in Twitter by using the hashtag #woty09.

They will be considered for the American Dialect Society's 20th annual word-of-the-year vote, the longest-running vote of its kind in the world and the word-of-the-year event up to which all others lead. It will be held in Baltimore on Friday, January 8, 2010.

The best "word of the year" candidates will be:

—new or newly popular in 2009
—widely or prominently used in 2009
—indicative or reflective of the popular discourse

The best "word of the decade" candidates will be:

—especially prominent or important throughout the years 2000-2009
—indicative of trends, fads, upheavals, groundswells, or sea changes which affected history, culture, or society throughout the years 2000-2009.

Multi-word compounds or phrases that act as stand-alone lexical items are welcomed, as well.

Sub-categories for "word of the year" include most useful, most creative, most unnecessary, most outrageous, most euphemistic, most likely to succeed, and least likely to succeed.

The vote is informed by the members’ expertise in the study of words, but it is far from a solemn occasion. Members in the 120-year-old academic organization include linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, authors, editors, professors, university students, and independent scholars. In conducting the vote, they act in fun and do not pretend to be officially inducting words into the English language. Instead, they are highlighting that language change is normal, ongoing, and entertaining.

Past winners can be found on the society's web site.

More information about the annual meeting.