The march to one million
According to the Global Language Monitor, on April 29th, 2009, the English language will pass one million words (and we wonder why English is considered so difficult to learn?). The GLM is a service based out of Austin, Texas, that “documents, analyzes and tracks trends in language the world over, with a particular emphasis upon Global English.” According to the GLM website, “English has become the first truly global language with some 1.35 billion speakers as a first, second or auxiliary language.” Who knew?
If you’re a betting person, have some fun by checking out HubDub.com, which bills itself as “the web’s news forecaster.” At HubDub, you can bet (with play money) on when you think the millionth word will make its appearance, and how strongly you feel about that prediction. Good times.
And just so you know, before you go setting up a One Millionth Word party on Evite, the English language actually has no authority that approves new words. According to The Economist’s John Grimond, “…by what authority does the Global Language Monitor say a new coinage is a genuine new word? None. Some countries, such as France and Spain, have academies that claim the right to regulate their national languages, and to repel invasive terms, usually from English. Neither England nor the United States attempts such an exercise in futility. English is a mongrel language that keeps its vitality by absorbing new words, uses and expressions. It promiscuously plunders other languages and delights in neologisms. It is the language of free traders and inventive entrepreneurs such as the staff of the Global Language Monitor.”
Pretty cool, and so very American.
Resolve to be resolute
It’s January 1st, and you know what that means. If you’re into the whole New Year’s resolution thing, it’s time to get on it, get moving, get your butt in gear. Surfing around, I noticed that AuthorHouse, which bills itself as the “leading self-publishing company in the world,” posted a list of resolutions aimed specifically at writers and other lovers of the written word.
Now I tend to dislike the whole resolution thing, as it seems to end more often in broken self-promises than anything. The usual stuff about getting in shape, eating better, saving more, spending more time with family — it’s all noble stuff, but so broad, really, how can people help but not follow through half the time? So I’ve tended to make myself yearly goals (note that I don’t call ‘em resolutions — just that word alone is enough to have me breaking my new vows on January 2nd), with long- and short-term milestones that can break up big things into managable chunks. It’s worked pretty well so far for non-writing stuff over the years. So, I have to give AuthorHouse some credit for putting out this list, even if most of what’s listed is fairly obvious. The trouble for those of us who write professionally is that sometimes we get stuck in such a rut of what we’re supposed to be doing, what kind of writing we usually do, what kinds of books we always read, we forget to really enjoy writing. Maybe it’s time to remember why we made this our career choice, and not take it for granted. So perhaps making a list of writing goals for the year isn’t such a bad idea. Because, much like most married people know you have to work at a relationship every day, writers have to work at writing in almost the same way, less we forget why we’re doing it in the first place. It’s hard work, but in both cases, it’s the best and most rewarding kind.
