TED Talk: What Makes a Word Real?

English professor Anne Curzan opens her talk on Ted by telling the audience that before she begins her classes, she asks her students to teach her a couple new slang words. She tells us this in hopes of drawing a connection to the way dictionary editors select new words for new dictionary editions. As a teacher, Anne mentions how students have been programmed to be critical of every piece of text or media, except the dictionary. The dictionary is most often thought of as the driving force of language, however, language is actually the driving force of the dictionary. The history of the english language has evolved greatly since the mid 18th century. There have always been words that are used in language that are questioned for their validity as a word, and there always will be. Curzan closes by saying a word makes its way into the dictionary because it is continually used in modern language. There is no formal guideline for a word to be considered real. That word becomes real because it’s being used.

This TED talk was chosen for how concisely Anne Curzan was able to put into words the thoughts and feelings of many people who can't decide if modern language has taken a turn for better or worse. Her discussion is a continuation of John McWhorter's TED talk about the ways language has evolved over the many, many years that it has existed. He states that the way we speak is always changing and Anne Curzan uses that statement as the basis of her talk. Key words in this TED Talk are all about new words and the changing of the english language. These slang words include de-friend, hangry, adorkable, and lol. Other keys words relate to the changing or definition of different words in the dictionary, these words are real, degrading, stick, change. The changing of the English language just reiterates the evolution of society and language through technology.

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