Poll: LOL and OMG are now words?

[Solstar100]

sadly i do actually know people who use 'LOL' and 'Oh Em Gee' in actualy conversations, and they "used" to be my friends, after threatening one with wraping an exhaust around >HIS< head if he ever uttered that mindless $hite around me again, he understandably doesn't speak to me much anymore,
but as a rule the only people who i have heard say these things are the 'fashion' culture people who spout (for the brits anyway) Gavin & Stacy buzzwords constantly and who buy the latest top 3 albums every week to stay 'cool'
sufficed to say my sister is one of these vacuous wastes of flesh so i know what i'm talking about, oh and just to clarify i'm 26 and currently doing an engineering degree so i'm not just some teeny-angst ranting goite, i've been around, i've watched this trend rise in the generations under me, and daily i fear for where this species is heading

 

[Reallink]

They are frequently used acronyms which not only reflect our world but also have to some degree shaped it. They arguably also deserve a place in an encyclopedia somewhere along the track.

 

[Sonicron]

...those arent acronyms LOL and OMG is initialism or abbreviation, acronyms must form words from each first letter of other words. grammar nazi, away!

Sorry to say, you're a bit mixed up. They're both abbreviations, and whereas OMG is indeed an initialism, LOL is an acronym, or at least it has the properties of one. Why? Because LOL can be pronounced as a single word in accordance with the English language's phonetic rules. I realize that you can pronounce it "ell oh ell", but you can just pronounce it "loll" as well.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

My sister even talks like that now and shes nowhere near a geek. I think internetisms will probably be added at some point. They seem to be working thier way into society.

 

[ENKC]

What people clearly aren't understanding here is that the OED is intended as a complete record of how the English language *is* used, not how it *should* be used. It is descriptive rather than proscriptive.

 

[Xelt]

Acronyms, but they're been classed as words now, they're in the dictionary.

When was the last time you looked in a dictionary?

Acronyms are in there too. It'll have a subtitle next to it saying 'acronym, slang'.

It isn't a case of whether or not it's a word, it's a case of whether or not it is used. And LOL and OMG used far more than Xeme [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Xeme].

To be fair, I've not looked in a dictionary since I was about 7 years old, so, a good 10 years ago.

 

[Lukeje]

Language evolves, verbs become nouns and slang becomes common speech, but having an acronym become a word doesn?t seem quite right?.

Wonder if in a few years we will be talking like Mortuus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEWgs6YQR9A


God help us all!

LASER is all ready in there, and has been for some time.

 

[CHIMP MAGNET]

Now that they are words. We are gonna have to abbreviate them too
Person1; that guy just fell over L
person2; O that guy looks really hurt

What've we BECOME?......

 

[Frotality]

...and dictionaries continue to defeat the frakking purpose of language.

what exactly do either of these terms add to the english language? theyre slang, created by generational culture, and just as fleeting. do lol and omg describe something that we as humans were completely unable to describe before? do they describe something in a more specific way? do they describe ANYTHING beyond a vague reference to a feeling like most other slang?

dont give me that "language evolves" BS; the entire point of written and spoken language is to convey a message with greater clarity than vague grunts and physical signs. slang is functionally grunting, as it only conveys vague feelings, and depends on varying degrees of social awareness to make even the slightest sense; it has no purpose when your trying to be understood, as when talking to a non-native speaker, or...every instance of non-casual conversation, so it has no business in dictionaries.

this isnt the first offender, and it wont be the last. the average american can barely speak to england and australia casually with a decent degree of clarity because of how language apparently "evolves" and we all speak THE SAME BLOODY LANGUAGE. i guess dictionary companies have some 'new additions' quota to meet with new prints; the bible is going fine without any changes, dont now why they need to complicate the english language further to make ends meet.

texas already doctors history books, we really dont need the language we still use becoming more bloated and confusing as well.

 

[Sjakie]

I would not call them 'words' but since these 'words' are used a lot in todays communication they deserve to be in the dictonary just for that fact alone!

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

"language evolves"

It actually does, look at how many words Shakespeare made up for example. Among them; Eye-ball, wormhole. hot-blooded. None of those words existed before Shakespeare and people at the time probably found them just as ludicrous as LOL and OMG. You can't use clarity for argument becuase even my 90 year old grandma knows what LOL means.

 

[Mr Somewhere]

They're slang, not words, I'm not going to lie, this is the most upsetting thing I've read in a while. Personally, that is. There is absoluetely no reason include those "words". Damn I hate slang culture...

 

[KingofallCosmos]

Language creates dictionary, not the other way around.

There you go. Can't stop it.

Also, LOL actually means fun in dutch.

 

[Geekosaurus]

Putting them in the dictionary doesn't automatically make them a word. They're still acronyms.

 

[FalloutJack]

They're...not really words. You know, as soon as dictionaries started printing slang terms, I knew we were in trouble. Now, it's come to this... Who's willing to come to Oxford Dictionary Land and straighten these morons out?

 

[TheBelgianGuy]

Lots of word in dictionaries were once considered to be slang.

Like the word 'cool'. Not very long ago it just meant something was cold, or unemotional. Now, dictionaries also give the meaning of 'fun' or 'entertaining' or whatever.

As somebody said here, dictionaries are not proscriptive, they're descriptive. They're not saying how a language should be, they're saying what a language is at the time of print.
If many people use OMG and LOL in real life, then yes it should be in the dictionary.

Which does not mean I agree with it, but actually murdering or making enemies of former friends just for using silly words, seems completely a batshit crazy thing to do.

 

[Alon Shechter]

I say Lol out loud impulsively whenever I hear a joke.
But I'm not the only one.
I hope some day you'll just us, and the world will be as one.

 

[Ravek]

you can't even say lol when smiling or laughing

Yes you can, I do so all the time.

'Lol' has been a word for a long time now ... I haven't seen it used as an abbreviation for 'laughing out loud' for years.

Omg, on the other hand, isn't even an acronym. I suppose you could pronounce it ohm-g or something, but I've never actually heard someone do that. It's a common enough initialism to put it in a dictionary, obviously, but I don't consider it a word as such.

 

[Woodsey]

But they are NOT words...they are...well, i dont remember the actual word, but they are multiple words.

Acronyms can go in the dictionary, as can slag.

People actually voted for "Yes" ?

Please excuse me while I go hang myself.

This has set a precedent. Prepare to watch civilization crumble.

I'm pretty sure Chaucer was criticised for "ruining" the language, and Shakespeare used to just make words up.

OT: LOL isn't pointless, its just become ironic, in that you only say it out loud when you're not actually laughing.