Linguistic traditionalists are up in arms after the publishers of the venerable Oxford English Dictionary (OED) announced they were welcoming some new additions to its pages — including the email-popularized acronyms "OMG" (Oh my God) and "LOL" (Laughing out loud). The acronym "FYI" (For your information) has also received the dictionary's approval. Outraged critics say "Samuel Johnson is rolling in his grave" over this outbreak of teenspeak in the world's most esteemed dictionary. Was the OED right to add these TLAs (Three letter acronyms) to its list of words?
No! The OED is SBB*: What was the OED thinking, asks Alexandra Petri at The Washington Post. It has added these "mutilations of language" simply to appear "hip and relevant." But the dictionary is "supposed to enshrine the words that actually mean things," not legitimize teen slang. Listen up, OED: "Stop trying to be cool and do your job."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Budget: Gutting Medicaid to pass tax cuts?Feature To extend Trump's tax cuts, the GOP is looking to cut Medicaid and other assistance programs
-
How will the next pope change the Catholic Church?Talking Points Conclaves can be unpredictable
-
Conspiracy theorists circle again following RFK file releaseThe Explainer Both RFK and his brother, President John F. Kennedy, have been the subjects of conspiracies
