subscribesubscriber servicescontact usabout ussite mapBuy a Classified
Tue, Feb 09 2010 

Resources

print this story   Print this story
  Post to del.icio.us

Photos


The dictionary...
/


Published December 05, 2007 11:28 am - "Anablog: The old-fashioned journal you write in with crushed tree pulp, binding, and maybe some kind of locking mechanism. For some reason people used to like writing opinions only they read. It is a fad past its prime, but Borders still sells them" (Mo' Urban Dictionary).

'Anablog' to 'yupscale': Trendy dictionary offers insight
Those looking to decode the language of teens or just needing a good laugh may want to pick up a copy of "Mo' Urban Dictionary."

By TEDDYE SNELL

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS

"Anablog: The old-fashioned journal you write in with crushed tree pulp, binding, and maybe some kind of locking mechanism. For some reason people used to like writing opinions only they read. It is a fad past its prime, but Borders still sells them" (Mo' Urban Dictionary).

"Yupscale: Affluent in an ostentatiously 'hip' sort of way; a combination of 'yuppie' and 'upscale'" (Mo' Urban Dictionary).

These are but two of myriad entries providing insight into the language of today's popular culture. Compiled by Aaron Peckham, "Mo' Urban Dictionary," is a print companion to 1999's "Urban Dictionary," which began as an online parody of dictionary.com.

Peckham began culling slang words and phrases and their meanings while he was an undergraduate student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Calif., and went online Oct. 14, 2001. The online dictionary's definitions are written by users, and approximately 50 million people visited the site in 2006.

According the print version, every day in 2006, Urban Dictionary visitors sent in an average of 1,700 definitions. That year, the site's volunteer editors added definitions of 170,000 terms. In total, Urban Dictionary defines about 500,000 terms. The "Oxford English Dictionary," second edition, defines about 600,000 terms.

"Mo 'Urban Dictionary" has words for all sorts of situations. Remember that pair of jeans you've saved for years, wistfully hoping to lose enough weight to get back into? That would be an item of "hope couture."

There's also a term for beating on a faulty electronic device, hoping to bring it to its senses: It's called "percussive maintenance."

While many English teachers may rail against the acceptability of slang, lexicography Grant Barrett, editor of the "Double-Tongued Dictionary," believes sites such as Urban Dictionary and others have value.

"UD and Wiktionary have important roles," wrote Barrett on his blog, The Lexicographer's Rules. "Everyone owns the language we speak ... Sites like UD demonstrate that even junior high and high school kids - and many older kids, sometimes in their 30s and 40s, no doubt - love to play with language as much as the rest of us, and this is the very same group that is often criticized as being careless about language by the school marms and the mossbacks and the self-appointed hall monitors and crossing guards of grammar, the squares and the bores. Every entry contributed to an online dictionary is a love note to the English language."

Dr. Paul Westbrook, dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Northeastern State University, was unfamiliar with UD's Web site, but found it interesting.

"Despite my many hours a day online, I have not been aware of the Urban Dictionary until just now," said Westbrook. "It is almost like eavesdropping, looking at a site that is a communication between people who are not those you would normally be able to talk this informally with."

According to notes in "Mo' Urban Dictionary," some readers have written to the site to say UD has helped bridge the generation gap in classrooms and at home. UD surveys indicate about 60 percent of readers are male, and 65 percent are younger than 25.

Westbrook believes that data alone gives the site credibility.

"The site is not really appropriate for my classes," said Westbrook, who teaches a number of communication and speech courses. "However, I can see how it could be helpful for a sociology or social linguistics class, where slang and dialect are studied. The fact that so many young men are on this site gives it importance."

Tahlequah resident Micah Brooks fits UD's demographic, and has visited the site before.



print this story    email this story   






autoconx
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
Premier Guide
Premium Jobs

Help Wanted:
Greenleaf Nursery is now accepting resumes for the position of Data Entry. Position requires 10 key by touch, computer ...>MORE

House For Rent:
4bdrm, 2ba near NSU $950 month. 918-457-8875...>MORE

Help Wanted:
FUN JOB! Now Hiring 10 people to travel to all major U.S. Cities with large co-ed group. 2wks paid training. Hotel and t...>MORE

Help Wanted:
First State Bank is now accepting applications for a full time credit clerk. PC skills, high school diploma and good cr...>MORE

Help Wanted
Auto sales Position. Good Pay, Benefits & Hours. Experience preferred. Apply in person. See Bill or Cody, Stutevill...>MORE

Help Wanted:
DAYBREAK FAMILY SERVICES, "A Deliberately Different Behavioral Health Agency", is seeking MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELORS, lice...>MORE

See all ads

Premium Homes

Mobile Home For Rent
1bdrm, furnished, satellite tv, all utilities paid, no lease, no deposit, 1 pet, near lake. $400 month. 316-6128 ...>MORE

Apartment for Rent
Large 1bdrm, $255 /mo references required, 688-6570...>MORE

House For Rent:
1bdrm Cabin, fenced yard, pet ok. Carter Landing Lake Area. $350 month plus deposit. 457-9844 , 207-2707...>MORE

Mobile Home For Rent
2Bdrm available $200 off first month rent with approval. Call or click for details 457-4100, www.rentoklahoma.net...>MORE

Apartments for Rent
Royal Oaks 1bdrm $375 month. 456-4423...>MORE

Mobile Homes For Sale
Why Rent? NEW Homes Starting at 4229 per month. PLUS UP to $8000 CASH BACK TO YOU!!! Stimulus $$$ While it Last. Call...>MORE

House For Rent:
Nice 2bdrm house in Tahlequah. 772-3057...>MORE

See all ads

Premium Extras

Commercial Property
Retail/ Office Space 600 s.f. to 8,400 s.f. Call Bryce 931-8386...>MORE

Commercial Property
Restaurant for lease 106 East Fourth. Call Bryce 931-8386...>MORE

Acreage For Sale:
3Acres +/- , Available for site built or new mobile home. Several tracts to choose from 6 miles +/- NW of Tahlequah H...>MORE

Commercial Property
Beauty shop for lease. Call Bryce 931-8386...>MORE

Wood For Sale:
Wood For SALE: $50 a rick delivered in town. Phone: 456-0474 Leave Message...>MORE

See all ads


 

Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.CNHI Classified Advertising NetworkCNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2009. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope and our Internet Yellow Pages site is powered by PremierGuide.
Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
View our Privacy Policy
Advertiser index