Dictionary publisher Collins is to open its
formerly closed word submissions process to the public, with a view
to make the way in which the English language is recorded "more
Members of the public are invited to
identify or coin new English words and submit them for potential
inclusion on the Collins dictionary website. They can supply
their own definition which, if accepted by the Collins editors,
will be accompanied by a credit with their name or Twitter
To kick things off, the Collins editors
have already submitted a selection of new words, including "reem"
(a compliment used by cast members of The Only Way is
Essex), "omnishambles" (originally from The Thick of
It, but more recently cited by Ed Miliband) and "mantyhose". Other words
include "superphone", " tash-on" and "twitlit".
Alex Brown, Head of Digital at Collins,
said: "We know people are passionate about the preservation and
evolution of the English language, and we want to tap into that as
new words continue to capture the public imagination."
Once a word is submitted, it will be
reviewed by the Collins
Dictionary editors using criteria such as frequency of use,
number of sources and staying power. This process will draw upon
the publisher's 4.5 billion-word database of language called the
Collins Corpus, which tracks language use across sources including
newspapers, radio and social media.
Submitters should make a compelling case
for their entries if they want to give the word the best chance of
being included. This means that example sentences, word origins and
links to where the word is being used in a media outlet could
strengthen the word's case. The editors will provide feedback on
the word within around three weeks. Words that aren't initially
accepted will be monitored and reviewed over the next year.
This is part of a wider strategy to make www.collinsdictionary.com
the "newsroom of the English language" and to make its processes
A democratic approach to
dictionary-building isn't entirely new. In fact, in the
late-nineteenth century, Professor James Murray invited tens of thousands of volunteers
to send in slips of paper containing the definition of words. These
unpaid strangers collaborated to create the foundation of the
Oxford English Dictionary.
If you'd like to contribute a word to
Collins' online dictionary, visit the "What's Your
Word?" section of the website.
We're starting with "amazeballs" and
"holibags". What are you starting with?