Last week, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (2003), appeared in bookstores for the first time. I was surprised not to find an entry for "blog." I thought the term was at least 5 years old. Am I right? For how long has the term been in existence among bloggers? (Webster's Tenth Edition, 1993, understandably did not include "blog"; a representative from M-W says, however, that even for the 2003 edition the term is neither old enough nor generally known enough outside bloggerhood to be included in the Eleventh. Am I justified in my astonishment, or is the rep telling it like it really is?) --Bernard
Last week, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (2003), appeared in bookstores for the first time. I was surprised not to find an entry for "blog." I thought the term was at least 5 years old. Am I right? For how long has the term been in existence among bloggers? (Webster's Tenth Edition, 1993, understandably did not include "blog"; a representative from M-W says, however, that even for the 2003 edition the term is neither old enough nor generally known enough outside bloggerhood to be included in the Eleventh. Am I justified in my astonishment, or is the rep telling it like it really is?) --Bernard
weblog dates back to probably 1997 - Jorn Barger's coinage. 'blog' as an abbreviation came from Peter Merholz' 1999 announcement that he was going to pronounce "weblog" as "weee-blog". you can find this info in Rebecca Blood's essay, "weblogs: a history and perspective", available at http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html ~elijah
Bernard, I suspect far more people know what a blog is, or even use a blog, than are familiar with the general term "blog." I would tentatively suggest this may be part of the problem with surveys that ask whether respondents read "blogs." Try asking your students if they know what a "blog" is and be prepared for some blank stares. (Of course, try asking them what "velleity" means and you will be met by the same blank stares. Blank stariness is perhaps not the best metric for dictionary inclusion.) This time next year, when everyone on AOL has their own blog, it will be harder for lexicographers to look the other way :). Alex PS It is in the dictionary if you pay for the right dictionary: see http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=blog .
-----Original Message----- From: air-l-admin@aoir.org [mailto:air-l-admin@aoir.org]On Behalf Of Bernard Stehle Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 12:31 PM To: air-l@aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] origin of "blog"
Last week, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (2003), appeared in bookstores for the first time. I was surprised not to find an entry for "blog." I thought the term was at least 5 years old. Am I right? For how long has the term been in existence among bloggers? (Webster's Tenth Edition, 1993, understandably did not include "blog"; a representative from M-W says, however, that even for the 2003 edition the term is neither old enough nor generally known enough outside bloggerhood to be included in the Eleventh. Am I justified in my astonishment, or is the rep telling it like it really is?) --Bernard
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Hi Bernard, I'm working the analysis of data for a short survey of online content creation, and while I can't give firm numbers yet, I can tell you that precious few Americans (at least) are blogging. More may be _reading_ them, but not that many more... It may seem like a big, ubiquitous phenomenon to those of us who live heavily wired lives, but it hasn't hit the mainstream. Might be different outside the US. So I'm not particularly surprised that the dictionary folks haven't seen fit to include it in their latest offering. --Amanda Amanda Lenhart Research Specialist Pew Internet & American Life Project At 12:30 PM 7/9/2003, you wrote:
Last week, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (2003), appeared in bookstores for the first time. I was surprised not to find an entry for "blog." I thought the term was at least 5 years old. Am I right? For how long has the term been in existence among bloggers? (Webster's Tenth Edition, 1993, understandably did not include "blog"; a representative from M-W says, however, that even for the 2003 edition the term is neither old enough nor generally known enough outside bloggerhood to be included in the Eleventh. Am I justified in my astonishment, or is the rep telling it like it really is?) --Bernard
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participants (4)
-
Alexander Halavais -
Amanda Lenhart -
Bernard Stehle -
elijah wright