The crisis:
Collins' editors know that old words die hard — and that some people will vilipend (regard with contempt) any execution without a fair trial. So they've offered the chance of a reprieve. They have made public 24 words that face deletion because editors could find no example of their use in their database of English-language books, newspapers, broadcasts and other media. If, by February 2009, a word reappears in that database with at least six "high quality" citations, it could be spared from the semantic dustbin.
(source; see also)
The solution:
Follow the lead of the Angry Professor!
I'd pitch in, but given the "high quality" demand, I'm afraid the caliginosity of this blog will not be roborant to the cause.
5 comments:
A rather clever, if not entirely original, strategy by Collins to induce logophiles not merely to work for free, but even to solicit the free labor of fellow travelors.
A better call to action would be to prevent "nucular" from appearing as a valid alternate spelling. When that happens, count me in!
LOL! That might just be enough to get me to support book burning.
How many of the List of 24 had you heard of, Dan? I'm betting at least a third, and that you could suss out most of the rest from their roots.
Zounds! I find this plan rebarbative in the extreme!
I must admit, I did not know a single one. Neither did Sarah Palin. There you have it: we are both equally ignorant (within measurement error).
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