Today is not just St George's Day, it is also Shakespeare's birthday. I recently learned that there are 540,000 words in the English language (five times more than when Will was around) ... and climbing. Readers of The Economist used to search for at least one word per issue that was completely new to them, but now I guess that we are accumulating new vocabulary at almost the growth rate of the National Debt.
Yesterday I received a text message from a friend on a train. Her carriage was full, she complained, of 'gwarfing arses'. I reached for my copy of the Urban Dictionary and blushed. The principal definition of 'Gwarf' is too rude for this blog, so I will only treat you to the secondary definition: 'A new nation pastime: to swim down to the bottom of a swimming pool and fart, then try to bite all the bubbles before they reach the top'.
I tried the word 'Nappa' on the Urban Dictionary, but I'm ahead of them there. However under "N" I did find the following:
'Nonversation' - which I'm quite adept at.
'Nom, nom, nom' - the sound I make when eating.
'Nolifing' - sitting at home playing computer games all day.
'Noipe' - an annoying and ungrateful house guest that has overstayed his or her welcome.
It would be interesting to know how Shakespeare's writing might have changed if he added all this extra vocabulary at his disposal:
Friends, Romans and frisbielicious emo bitches, lend me your trusticles ...
New Address
15 years ago
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