fanboys and overdogs

This is the third of Susie Dent's annual compilations of new language. She had hits in the last two years with the language report and larpers and shroomers which brought us smack up to date with the latest language being coined on the street, in the media, and on the Internet.

Basically she offers reports from the sharp end of language change. Some of these terms may make it into the dictionaries, others won't. It's only a year ago that she was wondering about the possible longevity of blog and chav, yet now they seem to have been with us for ever. And as she points out, not all terms which come into vogue may be new. They can be specialist terms which are given general currency by some dramatic event. For instance, twelve months ago, who outside a few seismologists knew what the term tsunami meant?


This year's neologisms don't seem quite as sparky as last's, though I am sure Ingerland or even worse, Ingerlund will stay current so long as racist louts continue to get excited about English football. Similarly, so long as people like me continue obsessively surfing blogs and web sites, we are in danger of falling into a clicktrance.

There are chapters on words of the moment; a comparison of terms from Johnson's dictionary with their definitions today; and a consideration of terms coined exactly a hundred years ago in 1905 - (come-on, smog, and pogrom).

She also looks at recent political euphemism and doublespeak. The dubious duo of Tony Blair and George Bush come in for well-deserved criticism for their linguistic sloppiness and deviousness. He chapter on swearing doesn't have much new this year. But in the perennial US-UK English debate she sees signs of America being more influenced by British English, rather than the other way round.

There are chapters on the language of cosmetics and on the linguistic history of women's underwear. And it's not only about the latest coinings. She also has a chapter on the opposite - the latest information on the earliest use of a term - known by lexicographers as antedating.

She's as up to date as you can possibly expect - though she doesn't mention two terms I have come across recently: slamming- unscrupulously switching someone's Internet account to another provider, and tag cloud - a web page composed entirely of links to other sites.

I didn't feel that I had learned quite as much as last year, though I hadn't heard of kunking, shoegazing, or hardbag from the 'new music' section. But for anyone who wants to keep up with new trends in language it's a must. And I was glad to see that she's included an index this year.