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"Perl" Added to Oxford Dictionary of English

posted by pudge on 2003.08.28 18:41   Printer-friendly
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Bert writes "'Perl' is one of the words newly added to the Oxford Dictionary of English: Perl. noun [mass noun]. Computing. a high-level programming language used especially for applications running on the World Wide Web. ORIGIN 1980s: respelling of PEARL, arbitrarily chosen for its positive connotations." We first found out this was going to happen some time ago, but now it's been published. It's on the provided list of new words, roughly between "PDF" and "personal video recorder."

Update: 09/02 23:55 GMT by P :This is NOT the Oxford English Dictionary, which has already -- as many know -- put perl in the dictionary, though it has not yet been published. This is a wily impostor, and that's a good thing, because they clearly know nothing about the English language (see discussion on apostrophes).

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  • On re-reading the article, it was mentioned that the fact this would happen has been known for a while now, but it wouldn't hurt to cite an reference from then, would it? :-) According to the Perl Timeline [perl.org]:

    The Oxford English Dictionary investigates the origin of the word "Perl" while considering it for an entry in the next edition. Perl will be included and the entry will resemble the entry below.

    Perl Brit.
    Perl, perl, irreg. PERL
    Computing.

    perl n. ,
    arbitrarily chosen for its positive connotations, with omission of -a- to differentiate it from an existing programming language called Pearl. Coined by Larry Wall in the summer of 1987; the program was publicly released on 18 December of that year. Acronymic expansions of the name (such as Practical Extraction and Report Language and Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister), though found in the earliest documention for the language, were formed after the name had been chosen. Coinage details confirmed by personal communication from L. Wall, May 2000. A high-level interpreted programming language widely used for a variety of tasks and especially for applications running on the World Wide Web. The form Perl is preferred for the language itself; perl is used for the interpreter for the Perl language. 1988 J. Vromans Perl Reference Card.

    Moreover, the OED is apparently written with Perl [oreilly.com]. Neat-o...

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  • 's (Score:2, Interesting)

    by babbage (2619)
    From the linked article:

    The apostrophe is disappearing from where you would expect to see it (e.g. LETS GO) and is appearing elsewhere (as in the plural PEAR'S).

    Nooooooooo!

    While I can respect that the duty of the OED is to reflect trends in the language -- rather than try to set them, like the French Academy ["Academe Francais"? sp?] does -- but it really bothers me that this usage is being blessed by the OED.

    Every time I see a word like "pear's", it leaves me wondering -- "the pear's what?" Dangling

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    • Well, some of those words are legit. Cantopop at least, can be used for sentences like "Faye Wong is the undisputed queen of Cantopop, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a big fat idiot." A sentence, which is not only grammatically correct, but also factually correct.

      Cyberslackers, OTOH, is just lame.
  • The Collins English Dictionary -- the one used by many UK government departments for official definitions of things -- has had this since 1998. My minor claim to fame is that I "got Perl in the dictionary" back in 1998. Google for "group:comp.lang.perl.misc author:stewart@ref.collins.co.uk". 'Tis I, and I have the e-mail from Tom C to prove it.

    Yeah, and we used Perl too. As do most dictionary publishers.

    Anent the apostrophe nonsense, all I can say is http://angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif [angryflower.com] and http://angryflo [angryflower.com]

  • In other news, I'm in the phonebook! I'm FAMOUS!!!

  • Let me clarify what is probably the most important thing about this press release, which is that it is not about the Oxford English Dictionary [oed.com], but rather about the Oxford Dictionary of English, a different work.

    As discussed elsewhere in this thread, there has been an entry drafted for Perl for the OED for some time, and it will probably be published later this year. As of this moment however Perl is not in the OED.

    I have nothing to do with the Oxford Dictionary of English, so I can't address any issues about this work, such as the relative merits of cyberslacking.

  • See later article [perl.org] where it has been officially added to the OED.
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