LISTSERV - ATEG Archives - LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU

With dictionaries beginning to add items such as LOL to their listings of words,

it might be a good time to pose the question What is a word?

Granted that aconyms have been coming into the language for a very long time:

loran, radar, sonar, snafu, jeep, kayo, veep, emcee, and others. In most of such

instances, the new "word" is a blending of the individual letters and is pronounced

as a single lexical unit. Do LOL and such texting shortcuts qualify? When one

sees LOL, isn't the mental response a return to "laugh out loud"? Words such

as jeep don't (at least any longer) evoke "general purpose."

I look forward to your feedback.

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/