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Oh my word!

Opinion & Analysis
The English language is prone to many ailments. Firstly it has a rather bizarre set of rules, all of which have numerous exceptions, which in fact, also constitutes part of the rules. Another problem with the language is its wide and ever-growing word base. As a reflection of its ability to adapt and evolve, new […]

The English language is prone to many ailments. Firstly it has a rather bizarre set of rules, all of which have numerous exceptions, which in fact, also constitutes part of the rules.

Another problem with the language is its wide and ever-growing word base. As a reflection of its ability to adapt and evolve, new words are constantly being added to the collection.

Take for instance a word like “bouncebackability”, which means the ability to recover quickly from a set-back or from near defeat in a competition.

Who would have thought that would end up in the dictionary? But lo and behold, there it is on oxfordictionaries.com. I mean, whatever happened to “resilience”, which seemed a perfectly adequate word describing the same thing? But here’s the thing with words; they never mean quite exactly the very same thing. There is always some little nuance extending the meaning from one word to the next.

The inclusion of Beyoncé’s “bootylicious” in the Oxford dictionary was a real coup for those of us whose competitive advantage is somewhat larger and rounder than the rest.

Although the term was first used by Snoop Dog, it was the lady diva who made the word so popular that it got added to the dictionary. Perhaps this was because she in fact, epitomised the expression. And in case you are wondering what it means, well, check out any gallery of Beyoncé photos and it will soon become self-evident.

According to bbc.co.uk the New Oxford English Dictionary is considered the foremost single-volume authority on the English language. Angus Stevenson, one of the dictionary’s editors, is quoted saying: “New words are spread worldwide by the media, and some are directly taken from TV . . .” That would explain expressions like “mini-me” (which refers to a person closely resembling a smaller or younger version of another) becoming formalised.

I do find it objectionable that we only consider something a “real word” when it makes it into the pages of the Oxford English Dictionary. On the one hand, it is after all the English language, so we may as well leave the English to it.

But on the other hand, the language has so pervasively infiltrated the culture and practice of large chunks of the world, that I am not sure if the English have a right to call it their own anymore. I reckon it should undergo some kind of reverse colonisation process.

Quite apart from the formal collection of more than half a million words which grows at the rate of a Hollywood starlet’s shoe collection, we also have informal words, that are still making their way to said dictionaries. Words like eeiouw and brrr are yet to make the grade to “real word” status.

In addition to actual words, real or imagined, the English language also contains “initialisms”, which are abbreviations consisting of the initial letters of a name or expression, for instance OMG (oh my God), LOL (laughing out loud), FYI (for your information), TMI (too much information), TTYL (talk to you later) and BFF (best friends forever) have been formally included in the OED (Oxford English Dictionary).

True to our innovative nature, we Zimbabweans have added our own selection of local initialisms, which include DPN (di phansingohleko) and KNK (kufanekuseka).

And then because we operate in a multicultural environment, we also have word creations that reflect this. Like heish which I am now told is in fact eish. I suppose even new words emerge with their national, regional or demographic variety.

My own interpretation of the word is that it expresses a wordless moment of internal surrender/outrage/despair. There is a school of thought suggesting this word is a bastardisation of the Korean word aish, an interjection meaning the equivalent of “oh no!”.

Recently a colleague told me he wanted to check the “reasonability” of some figures.

Reasonalibility? Is that even a word? When I did a search for this online, the response I got was, “did you mean seasonability?” So err, dude, the reasonability of those figures is actually non-existent!

When we were growing up the word “conscientise” was so often in use that it came as a surprise when our English teachers revealed that it was not in fact, a “real word” and that smart classy people like we were expected to be should not use it. But the crazy thing is, we all understood exactly what was meant by it, and more to the point, there wasn’t really another word that expressed quite the same idea as that verb. For the record, this too is not a real word!

Of course as new words are added to the dictionary, formal or informal, others fade quietly into obsolescence. Words like, well “obsolescence” for example, are seldom used anymore, as are “ludibrious” (meaning to be prone to being the butt of jokes) and “illecebrous” (alluring, enticing, attractive).

So I guess there is no need for lovers of the English language to lament its desecration upon the inclusion of expressions such as “helicopter parenting” and “hackathons”. It’s all part of the “ginormous” circle of word life!

.Thembe Khumalo Sachikonye writes in her personal capacity. Readers comments can be sent to [email protected]. Follow Thembe on Twitter www.twitter/localdrummer or visit her facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/local-drummer