use Perl

• 's (Score:2, Interesting)

  by babbage (2619) <cdeversNO@SPAMcis.usouthal.edu> on 2003.08.28 21:50 (#23641) Homepage Journal

  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 possessives seem worse than dangling participles. Yuck :-(

  And then there's this list:

  Of course, only a small percentage of these make it into the dictionary; our strict rules for inclusion ensure that only the most important words are selected, while the more ephemeral and poorly evidenced words are put on the back burner. Those that have passed the test include CYBERSLACKER, FATOUSH, BLAMESTORMING, SARS, CANTOPOP, BUPKIS, NOUGHTIES, MUGGLE, and ROBATA.

  This reads like one of those lists of pseudo-terms that used to [still does?] appear in magazines like Wired: look how cool & hip we are, we're making up shit now. I mean really, Cyberslacker? Sheesh, lord what fools these muggles be :)

  Man. I think the OED just JUMPED THE SHARK.

  (In any case though, I, err, don't actually see the word "perl" on that linked press release. Wrong url maybe? It looks like the full list of new words is available as a 69 page PDF file [askoxford.com] -- which is, in a way, recursive when you think about it :)

  --
  

  
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  DO NOT LEAVE IT IS NOT REAL.

  Reply to This

  • Re:'s (Score:2)

    by autarch (914)

    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.