Ray Saintonge wrote:
The following is my response to a question raised in
the Beer Parlour
of the en:wiktionary about how far we go in accepting protologisms or
newly coined words. I have copied it here because it involves issues
that can be of concern to the broader community.
Wiktionary is frequently Googled, and because of its FDL availability
it is frequently copied into other websites. The result is that
allowing some protologism here has a multiplier effect. By allowing a
protologism we become advocates for it; we are no longer neutral, but
begin to collectively push a POV.
Wikipedia has a "no original research" policy. We need some parallel
to that. The support for a word is far more accessible that the
details of some complicated new theory in physics. With a physics
theory the average reader is soon lost in opaque details, and can
quickly give up in confusion. A word is different in that it's often
easy to devise a coherent definition. The average reader can
understand it, and begin to apply it in his own life. We are in a
better position to get away with a lot of public bullshit.
Strangely enough, I believe that Wiktionary has a far greater
potential than Wikipedia to being influential in the general public. I
say this notwithstanding the fact that it is much smaller, and
receives far less critical scrutiny than Wikipedia. A person who has
found "prydxl" in Wiktionary or any of its copycats could very well
begin to use it despite its bogus origins.
Protologisms are only part of the problem. The debate about "leet"
words come into it; so does the verifiability of any entry. Mix these
with an increasing level of influence, and we have a major ethical
dilemma relating to the function and purpose of any dictionary.
A dictionary chronicles the language in both its past and its present.
Its past needs to be subject to calls for evidence; if a word is
challenged the burden of proof for verifying its legitimacy needs to
fall upon the contributor. Otherwise, the rest of us are left with the
futile task of proving a negative. Evidence for new words is even more
important. It is not enough to say that the word was used in some
unspecified episode of a TV series. What amuses the members of today's
peanut gallery may be completely forgotten by this time next year when
the forces of marketing will have diverted our attention to some new
ephemeral fantasy. Web evidence does no better. It is not good to
accept any word as valid irregardless (sic!) of where you found it.
I don't know where the problem is greater, but this certainly occurs
plenty on Wikipedia as well. Protologisms, or as I would call them
"attempted neologisms", are a regular feature on Votes for Deletion and
go swiftly to their fate. The no-original-research policy would be the
ideal starting point for Wiktionary to use, I would think.
I'm quite surprised at you, Ray, you're almost starting to sound like a
deletionist. (Please, nobody start a flamewar over this - I'm only teasing.)
--Michael Snow