This flat out sickens me:
“‘w00t,’ an expression of joy coined by online gamers, was crowned word of the year on Tuesday by the publisher of a leading U.S. dictionary.
Massachusetts-based Merriam-Webster Inc. said ‘w00t’ — typically spelled with two zeros — reflects a new direction in the American language led by a generation raised on video games and cell phone text-messaging.”
I really don’t think that “w00t” is a word much less should be crowned the word of the year. The direction the English language is taking due to the use of words like this I find very saddening and for a prestigious institution such as Merriam-Webster to go about promoting it is just out right disgusting.
I share your concern but look at it this way. When the Earth was created did a heavy bound book drop out of the sky with a listing of every valid word and its definition?
Language continually changes and evolves – words are constantly being added while older words fall out of the use of language. Sure you may not like the direction the English language is taking but direction is direction. I have long feared the world will degenerate due to today’s culture but every generation before me has feared the same thing with the addition of some newfangled concept to the established norm.
It’s 2007 and we’re still here and disregarding the daily dose of fear our media loves to administer to us we are doing just fine!
You do have a good point, but at the same time I don’t think a word should be spelt with numbers, not to mention that ‘w00t’ is used by a very select few people who use it only in certain situations. I have also never heard it spoken which I can only say is a very good thing.
Unfortunately, having grown up with computers and cell phones, it’s my generation that seems to be generally responsible for expressions such as ‘w00t’. I can only apologize for it.
I had a teacher who predicted – contrary to his peers – 20 years ago the PC would start to degrade language. Boy, wasn’t he right?
language is not a noun. it’s a verb. someone needs to get over themselves.
Language also is not spelt with unpronounceable numbers.