'Celebufreak', 'nanoblahblah' are words you would only find on online dictionaries

Sydney, Feb 19 : Do you get hysterical if you miss your daily dose of the likes of Britney's, Paris' and Lindsay's? Well, then you can call yourself a "celebufreak".

And if you've deleted your mail inbox in bulk out of despair, then you've declared "email-bankruptcy".

These interesting words cannot be found in the regular well-thumbed dictionaries, but they are flourishing in websites like Urban Dictionary, Double Tongued Dictionary and Wordlustitude.

A report set in this month's edition of New Scientist magazine looks at how the Internet is providing a rich record of new word, almost as soon as they appear.

Contrasting traditional paper dictionaries, online dictionaries, websites and blogs can file language as it evolves, thus resulting in "a new kind of dictionary that can be updated every day and has no size limit," according to the mag.

Words such as "nanoblahblah" (nonsensical minutiae), discussed on the Wordlustitude blog, reflect current technologies; while "celebufreak", "celebushambles" and "celebuwhatever" spring from the obsession with celebrity culture.

Terms like "shi-diddly-it" come from the animated Simpsons evangelical character Ned "hi-diddly-ho" Flanders.

Double Tongued Dictionary contains words like "pornstache" i.e. long, full, roughly trimmed moustache shorter than a handlebar moustache, worn without a beard, and with ends that hang down over the corners of the mouth; "trout pout" i.e. puffy lips resulting from cosmetic procedures; and "whale tail" i.e. the upper part of a G-string that appears above hipster jeans when the wearer bends over.

According to the Double Tongued Dictionary, it "records undocumented or under-documented words from the fringes of English, with a focus on slang, jargon and new words".

Words can be submitted as long as they are not included in a mainstream dictionary, are not an invention of the person submitting them and not part of an official marketing campaign. The word must have been used more than once.

Australian linguistics expert Dr Ruth Wajnryb says that such kind of a vocabulary can provide a useful reference, which can help keep traditional tomes up to date.

"I think they need to be treated for what they are," News.com.au quoted Dr Wajnryb, as saying.

"They fill a gap tracking the words that didn't make it into the last edition (of a mainstream dictionary) and are about perhaps too soon for the next edition," he added.

However, she said that she is confident that the traditional paper dictionary will never die out.

"I imagine there will always be people who will want to turn the pages," she said.

ANI