The self-decreed Global Language Monitor has determined that "English passed the Million Word mark [on]... June 10 at 10:22 am GMT." And what has the Austin, Texas based neologistic pundit determined number 1,000,000 is?
Drum-roll, please:
WEB 2.0
Pffft.
C'mon, is Web 2.0 even a word? Can words have numbers in them? How useful is it to Scrabble players or crossword puzzle aficionados? Can you make an anagram with it? Even "web-two-point-zero" would be a stretch.
It looks more like a "term" to me. However, "term" is a synonym for "word," so maybe I'm splitting lexical hairs here. Then again, other synonyms for "word" include: concept, designation, expression, idiom, lexeme, locution, morpheme, name, phrase, sound, usage, utterance, and vocable. Perhaps it would be better classified as one of those.
For example, Web 2.0 as the millionth designation I could accept (after all, it does have a sort of "7 of 9" feel to it), but as the millionth word?! NO.1!!
The folks at Global Language Monitor define it as, "The next generation of web products and services, coming soon to a browser near you." That sounds more like an advertisement for something I'd want to avoid than a definition. And it begs the question: does Web 2.0 really qualify as part of the next generation of words?
I thought the millionth word was supposed to be a new word. The term "Web 2.0" was coined by Darcy DiNucci in 1999. That's ten years ago -- 10.0! If they go back that far, why not just make Y2K the latest word? And as for "web," well according to Dictionary.com, that perfectly respectable word has been around in its pre-Internet lowercase form since the year 1220, or thereabouts.
And, no offense, but it's ugly. I mean, could Web 2.0 inspire a novelist, a play-write, or a poet? Who would want to write a song with such a "word" in it? What could rhyme with it - dead auto?
No, I'm afraid Web 2.0 just doesn't do it for me in any etymological sense. Indeed, any of the other finalists announced previously would have impressed me more: alcopops, bangster, de-friend, noob, quendy-trendy, slumdog, and wonderstar.
But Web 2.0? Pffft.
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