Wordly Wise

What we designate as "new words" are rarely in fact new in the strictest sense: letters in combinations hitherto unseen in a language will always be found to have roots in words or parts of words that already exist, in other languages if not in the same one. New words are pieced together from the fragments, or the whole parts, of old ones, and in a few cases, what we call a new word is simply a revival of a word coined in English hundreds of years ago.

The criteria for inclusion in a dictionary of new words are much the same as they have always been: is there something genuinely innovative about the word hitherto unnoted in dictionaries? Has the word escaped a relatively narrow field of usage, such as youth slang or trade jargon, to enjoy more general currency? Is the word likely to enjoy continuing currency, or does it designate a fad or phenomenon that we will probably no longer need a word for next year?

These guidelines have influenced the selection of words in this dictionary, along with a few other considerations. In most cases we have consulted the American college dictionaries, which are the bellwether of American lexicography and usage, and we have made a point of including words that are not generally treated in them.

This has resulted in the selection of some words that you will immediately apprehend as not being new at all. They are words that, to our minds, have simply been neglected in the college dictionaries, despite widespread usage for some time. Take guestbook (or, if you prefer, guest book). Everyone knows what the old-fashioned kind is, a place where guests at a museum, hotel, event, or other venue sign their names and perhaps leave comments. Today guestbooks can also be found online, where visitors to websites can leave their comments. Strangely, however, the word is not to be found in most American dictionaries today, and even the OED has so far failed to take note of it.

There are dozens of other words that we feel instinctively should have received more general coverage in dictionaries before this time, including birthdate (spelled thus as a solid compound), landfall (with reference to hurricanes), peace order, and soymeal, to choose a few.

In this dictionary there is also a strong emphasis on American English, but we have included some words from other major English dialects, particularly from British English. For example, if the words are gaining currency (e.g., minder), if they might be confused with a similar American term (e.g., care worker), and in a few cases, if the words stand a good chance of filling a gap in American English, which has so far failed to provide a handy equivalent (e.g., noughties).

We have tried to uphold the principle that language appearing in public should be comprehensible to the public, whether this is the intention of the author of the language or not. In pursuit of this, words that have come to the editor"s attention from newspapers, road signs, and ephemeral literature, for which no dictionary at hand offers any help, have been included in this dictionary.

Consider the sign on the outskirts of Hanover, Pennsylvania that says "Jake Brake prohibited in this area" (what is a Jake Brake?), or an advertisement in a Chicago newspaper: "All-brick townhouse under construction - you get to put the first scratch in the wide-plank cherry flooring. European kitchen and baths (bidet optional), wine cellar, hydraulic closet rods." What is a European kitchen, and if you live in Chicago, why do you need one? Other words in this dictionary that have been nabbed for making unglossed appearances in public include basket bingo, carryback note, outparcel, and pole building.

The editorial team behind this dictionary has worked diligently to make it accurate, comprehensive, informative, and up-to-date. We hope that you will find it so, and that you will take the opportunity provided by these definitions to give the words a good workout and test their viability for truly enduring status in forthcoming general dictionaries.

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New Words, by Orin Hargraves