The English language is constantly evolving, which keeps the dictionary of record, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) scrambling to keep up. This year, they released an update covering one of the language's current hot topics, namely climate change. (I expect to see one covering words associated with the pandemic come out sometime in the near future).
A post on the OED's blog describes the update in some detail.
Over the course of the last 30 years or so, the OED’s editors have researched and recorded many of the best-known terms related to climate change, such as global warming, microplastic, and emissions, as well as carbon and its associated compounds.
However, language is ever evolving, and earlier this year, the OED embarked on a project to broaden and review its coverage of vocabulary related to climate change and sustainability. With the increase in climate strikes and extreme weather in recent years, it is clear that this is a rapidly changing area of vocabulary, and one that our lexicographers have been carefully monitoring.
Below we explore some of the new and revised entries added in this update (shown in bold below), as well as looking at language related to climate change previously recorded in the OED, and terms that we are still monitoring. We reveal some of the spikes and dips in usage we are seeing, as well as changes in the way certain words related to climate change are now being used.
If you are interested in climate change or the English language, you'll find it a worthwhile read.
No comments:
Post a Comment