ABSTRACT
Once verbal language was developed, an additional way to convey messages was needed, which resulted in the creation of written codes.
Language does not remain static; it is constantly changing. Changes in technology, lifestyles, and social attitudes lead to new words and phrases. For example, in the English language, each year, Merriam-Webster adds about 100 words to its dictionary.12 Words recently added include “locavore (one who eats foods grown locally), frenemy (someone who acts like a friend but is really an enemy), vlogs (a blog that contains video material) and webisode (a TV show that can be viewed at a website).”13 Other added words are reggeaeton (music of Puerto Rican origin that combines rap and Caribbean rhythms) and flash mob (a group of people summoned electronically to a designated spot at a specified time to perform an indicated action). The words are added because, “we’ve made the judgment that these [chosen words] are not just words used by specialists. These really are words that are so common that they regularly pop up in conversations.”14 The same publication crowned austerity (enforced or extreme economy) as the Word of the Year (2010),15 while The New Oxford American Dictionary awarded the honor to refudiate, a verb Sarah Palin apparently invented.”16
