Define the word "langer"

Sat Dec 18, 2004 9:44 am by druid

i don't have the linkeys to prove this yet but believe me this is true, i was listening at the time. a radio station which broadcasts in ireland nationwide, Today FM, has a comedy scetch every morn. one of the characters appearing uses an accent from the very south, Cork. this character uses a local cork vulgarism, the word Langer, loosely meaning "stupid person" (you get the general idea)

collins english dictionary in the U.K. has a site which can be e-mailed if you want to nominate a word to make it into the coming years edition of their dictionary. this makes sure that the language is kept up to date.

the radio station asked all of its listeners to send an email to nominate and define langer so they could have it officially included in the dictionary. it was so successful that the head of the publishing company saw fit to give special mention to the unprecedented support given to this word. obviously Today FM was not broadcasting in England that day.

i'm sure there is a point here but really i thought some of you local TLRites would take my lead and lead my thread.

"My sig is in the post but the man in the shop promised I will find it witty and topical when it arrives."

Edited by - Druid on 12/18/2004 9:44:51 AM

Edited by - Druid on 12/18/2004 9:51:02 AM

Sat Dec 18, 2004 10:09 am by freighter fighter

Maybe we could get chav and pikey into the dictionary listed as " undesirable adolescent creatures fit for hunting down and shooting"

Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:59 pm by Esquilax

Great. More people mauling the English language *shakes head sadly*. As if we don't have enough stupid (and superfluous) terms already!

Sat Dec 18, 2004 11:16 pm by sycho warrior

Esq....be glad you dont speak afrikaans.

They did a new afrikaans dictiondary a while back, to translate all the english slang used in afrikaans...it was quite funny

Sat Dec 18, 2004 11:54 pm by Esquilax

I'm really pedantic about English sw; don't get me started

.

Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:22 am by druid

@esqui; should that not have been "I am really pedantic about English sycho_warrior; do not get me get me started".

*Druid braces in preparation for subtle joke retalliation thwack*

actually i like the way that the language evolves with society. if we did not "maul" the language it would die as it lost touch with peoples' communication needs and be replaced with a new more pertinent version. anybody out there fluent in latin?. i particularly love the nice touches language gets in different regions. english is such a universally used language and yet often seems like a foreign language when spoken by folks fom a different country. a lot of phrases used in ireland are english words in gaellic sentence constructs giving it a lyrical touch not found in the queens own version.

"My sig is in the post but the man in the shop promised I will find it witty and topical when it arrives."

Sun Dec 19, 2004 3:30 am by Esquilax

An "evolving" language is is to be expected whether it is due to laziness (ie. the word "cheque" now commonly spelt "check" ), or due to vowel shifts. It is something else entirely when people de-evolve English and create appalling pidgin languages such as *shudder* "l33t" *spits*.

*Thwacks Druid* There ain't nothin' wrong with them there contractions!

Sun Dec 19, 2004 4:06 am by sycho warrior

Esq...that would be "their" contractions

Sun Dec 19, 2004 12:01 pm by Accushot

No, it wouldn't

Sun Dec 19, 2004 12:55 pm by druid

esqui --- how long have you bin' havin' contractions?

i suppose part of the question here is should such words reach the dictionary, and if so how do we decide which ones? the reason this radio prank was of so much interest to me is that this year, no prank involved, the word "chav" was introduced. this is local london slang for something like last years "bling". does localised slang belong in the universal dictionary, and if so should it be taken out when it dates?

okay i am sure that words we commonly use here like "mod" and "thwack" or abbreviations like "TLR" or one zlo recently introduced me to "OMFG" are accepted by us to be site speak for want of a better phrase. i have always viewed language as a tool, a means of communication, so long as i get your point the tool has worked.

over the years words and phrases which have been voted into the dictionary would include "camcorder", walkman", "wannabe", "post modernism" etc. these words are introduced to keep up with both technological and social changes.however these words can date. many "groovey", "fab" and "hip" words used by Y.U.P.P.I.E.'s and D.I.N.K.Y.'s have been introduced into the dictionary and then died a slow death.

Sun Dec 19, 2004 5:33 pm by Esquilax

I imagine that it is probably due to the popularity and longevity of the expressions. If a word is both common and popular, it is usually assumed to have been integrated into the vernacular. If this occurs then the word in question is often added to official dictionaries and what-not. As for words dying, it is a sad state of affairs. There are some great words that you hardly ever encounter anymore. What about "deletirious"? It's quite rare to hear it *shakes head sadly*.

Tue Dec 21, 2004 12:08 pm by sycho warrior

lol Accushot you're right...I read wrong the first time

apologies Esq

Tue Dec 21, 2004 12:20 pm by druid

@esqui; should i be worried about the meaning of your lost but not forgotten love-word."deledtrious" (and yes i did have to look it up

)

del·e·te·ri·ous (dl-tr-s)
adj.

Having a harmful effect; injurious.

i agree that the language should be allowed evolve and that words entered into the dictionary should generally be accepted into vernacular already. the problem is that english is so widely used that the vernacular for you is different to what it is for me.

if you limit dictionaries to the "queens english" they will no longer serve as concise guides to modern english language usage, on the other hand if you allow people to vote in words which are in fashion one day, the dictionary will be over full of rubbish and out of date tomorrow.

Tue Dec 21, 2004 4:22 pm by Esquilax

True, but I think that it can be taken too far Druid. Personally I dislike vernacular, and I try to speak English as well as possible. Because of the laziness of the common man, I have discovered that, by speaking English correctly, my speech is ironically seen to be *very* idiosyncratic

.

As for "deletirious", it's just a great word. Like "antediluvian"

.

sw - I find your lack of faith in my English is disturbing

.

Edited by - esquilax on 12/21/2004 4:23:32 PM

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