Save the Words

It used to be that you could "Save the Children," or "Save the Whales." Now, you have the opportunity to "Save the Words." These are words that have dropped from common usage and may, as a result, be dropped from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). (We have the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles on our Reference shelves. The "shorter" version is 3750 pages long!)

I've joined the "Save the Words" movement and have adopted the word, "pigritude." By adopting the word, I have promised to use it. So, here goes: Finally cured of her pigritude she will now do all her blog postings in advance.

Visit the Save the Words site and sign up to adopt a word or two.

And, if you'd like to learn more about the OED, you'll want to start with The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester [423 WIN].

Pigritude = laziness