Merriam-Webster carefully considers adding 'Senpai' to the dictionary - Polidicks

[QUOTE=slayer20;50323390]But Senpai already is a word with an existing definition? Why would the change the definition when it's basically used the way it's supposed to be used?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=AtomicSans;50323397]"Senpai" is kind of an odd addition, I have to say, seeing as it's literally a foreign word that's used almost 100% in reference to its use in Japanese.[/QUOTE] Don't think it's the first time either of these happened.

We use Latin and french terms all the time but they're not part of the English dictionary because they're not English. It's a Japanese word that's already in a Japanese dictionary and doesn't really need to be in any of ours.

My girlfriend studies anglistics, and when I told her about this she said "Mirriam Webster is widely considered to be pretty shit anyway" Regardless of that we both find this hilarious :v:

[QUOTE=Dr.Fragg;50324057]We use Latin and french terms all the time but they're not part of the English dictionary because they're not English. It's a Japanese word that's already in a Japanese dictionary and doesn't really need to be in any of ours.[/QUOTE] If you removed the French and Latin from the English dictionary, it'd be a fuckin' pass-around flyer. Dictionaries are lists of words used; past and present, so if a word is widely used, it has a place in a dictionary.

mark my words, someday Swooce will be a real word

[QUOTE=Dr.Fragg;50324057]We use Latin and french terms all the time but they're not part of the English dictionary because they're not English. It's a Japanese word that's already in a Japanese dictionary and doesn't really need to be in any of ours.[/QUOTE] I typed out a bunch of English transplant words from French and looked at what Google Chrome marked as an actual word. These were all included in Chrome's [I]English[/I] dictionary (removed some apostrophes because those were marked incorrect): Rendezvous, adieu, blond/blonde, chaise, genre, petite, divorce, critique, rouge, souvenir, touche, risque, encore, protege, cuisine, passe, matinee, soiree, chic, coup, crepe, debutante, demode, emigre, provocateur, voyage, garcon, and gauche. And this was a very short list. It doesn't include a number of incredibly commonly-used French transplant words and phrases like deja vu, avant-garde, noir, art deco, a la carte, bas-relief, and so on, most of which are also found in dictionaries, because they are used in the English language. Words like "senpai" and "tsundere" are used very often as transplant words in otherwise fully English sentences. They're plenty deserving to get a place in an English dictionary, just like thousands of French and Latin words are. We steal words from other languages all the time. Other languages do the same thing. Should a German dictionary not include the word "das Internet" because it's a loanword from English? No, that's ridiculous.

nice job senpaitachi

Since all these cool words are going in to the dictionary, I can't wait for "boku no pico" to make it in :-)

[QUOTE=Svinnik;50323050]How mainstream is the word? I've only really heard it from weebs and people making fun of weebs.[/QUOTE] I hear it from my normie friends all the time because of filthy frank and pewdiepie

[QUOTE=Svinnik;50323050]How mainstream is the word? I've only really heard it from weebs and people making fun of weebs.[/QUOTE] anime is pretty mainstream

[QUOTE=Droogie;50324703]anime is pretty mainstream[/QUOTE] People using senpai unironically is not.

Can they add waifu and husbando whilst at it?

Merriam-Webster was a mistake.

[QUOTE=Dr.Fragg;50324057]We use Latin and french terms all the time but they're not part of the English dictionary because they're not English.[/QUOTE] [url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Origins_of_English_PieChart.svg]Most of the English language's vocabulary is of Latin origin, particularly Spanish and French[/url], despite the fact that English is a Germanic language and thus should theoretically be more similar to German like Dutch is. (most of the rest are loanwords and those taken from it's Germanic roots, with only a moderate amount of words being of bonafide English origin) Is the word "Britain" not English because it is was coined originally by the Latin and French? How about "doctor"? "Dictionary" is also of Latin origin, too (dictionarium).

[QUOTE=Dr.Fragg;50324057]We use Latin and french terms all the time but they're not part of the English dictionary because they're not English.[/QUOTE] Quite right. After all, if we exclude nouns then only 5 of the words you just used there are of latin origin. (If we include nouns we can bump it up to 7) So about a quarter to a third of your post consisted of latin, we certainly do possess a pure and untainted language senpai.

[QUOTE=Mingebox;50323965]Well okay, but I'm still not letting "literally" slide.[/QUOTE] Sorry we're literally past that point. Languages change and evolve, thats how they operate

[QUOTE=trollbuster;50324768]People using senpai unironically is not.[/QUOTE] what's your point senpai?

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;50326170]Quite right. After all, if we exclude nouns then only 5 of the words you just used there are of latin origin. (If we include nouns we can bump it up to 7) So about a quarter to a third of your post consisted of latin, we certainly do possess a pure and untainted language senpai.[/QUOTE] So I was lying on my [B]futon[/B] watching an [B]anime[/B] based on a [B]manga[/b] about this [b]origami tycoon[/b]. He was in this [b]sushi[/b] restaurant covered in [b]kudzu[/b], with a pond full of [b]koi[/b] fish. He ordered some [b]tempura[/b] with [b]wasabi[/b] and put some [b]soy[/b] sauce on top. Suddenly, a [b]samurai[/b] wielding a [b]katana[/b] burst through the door and started [b]karate[/b] fighting with a [b]ninja[/b]. The [b]tycoon[/b] just played [b]sudoku[/b] the whole time, and then a [b]tsunami[/b] hit! The [b]tycoon[/b] just trimmed his [b]bonsai[/b], and then this [b]bokeh[/b] filter was applied and a [b]geisha[/b] in a [b]kimono[/b] jumped out of a [b]ginkgo[/b] tree and fought the [b]ninja[/b] and [b]samurai[/b] using [b]judo[/b]! The [b]tycoon[/b] sipped his [b]sake[/b] and ate some [b]ramen[/b] with [b]teriyaki[/b] chicken, [b]tofu[/b], and [b]shiitake[/b] mushrooms as they all fought. Then the [b]geisha[/b] grabbed the [b]tycoon's[/b] [b]shiba inu![/b] He texted the [b]shogun[/b], who was at a [b]zen dojo[/b], a bunch of [b]emoji[/b] to ask for help. He sent three [b]sumo[/b] wrestlers to save his b[b]shiba inu![/b] The [b]sumo[/b] wrestler said "[b]Sayonara![/b]" and then a [b]kamikaze[/b] pilot smashed into the [b]sushi[/b] restaurant, killing everyone! It was the coolest [b]anime[/b] I've ever seen! I'm such an [b]otaku[/b]!

[QUOTE=.Isak.;50327797]So I was lying on my [B]futon[/B] watching an [B]anime[/B] based on a [B]manga[/b] about this [b]origami tycoon[/b]. He was in this [b]sushi[/b] restaurant covered in [b]kudzu[/b], with a pond full of [b]koi[/b] fish. He ordered some [b]tempura[/b] with [b]wasabi[/b] and put some [b]soy[/b] sauce on top. Suddenly, a [b]samurai[/b] wielding a [b]katana[/b] burst through the door and started [b]karate[/b] fighting with a [b]ninja[/b]. The [b]tycoon[/b] just played [b]sudoku[/b] the whole time, and then a [b]tsunami[/b] hit! The [b]tycoon[/b] just trimmed his [b]bonsai[/b], and then this [b]bokeh[/b] filter was applied and a [b]geisha[/b] in a [b]kimono[/b] jumped out of a [b]ginkgo[/b] tree and fought the [b]ninja[/b] and [b]samurai[/b] using [b]judo[/b]! The [b]tycoon[/b] sipped his [b]sake[/b] and ate some [b]ramen[/b] with [b]teriyaki[/b] chicken, [b]tofu[/b], and [b]shiitake[/b] mushrooms as they all fought. Then the [b]geisha[/b] grabbed the [b]tycoon's[/b] [b]shiba inu![/b] He texted the [b]shogun[/b], who was at a [b]zen dojo[/b], a bunch of [b]emoji[/b] to ask for help. He sent three [b]sumo[/b] wrestlers to save his b[b]shiba inu![/b] The [b]sumo[/b] wrestler said "[b]Sayonara![/b]" and then a [b]kamikaze[/b] pilot smashed into the [b]sushi[/b] restaurant, killing everyone! It was the coolest [b]anime[/b] I've ever seen! I'm such an [b]otaku[/b]![/QUOTE] ironically enough, [b]tempura[/b] is Latin, as is [b]anime[/b]

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;50328025]ironically enough, [b]tempura[/b] is Latin, as is [b]anime[/b][/QUOTE] Anime is contended to have been derived from a french word, animé.

[QUOTE=FunnyStarRunner;50323125]I think they're just pulling words out of a hat to add new stuff to their dictionaries.[/QUOTE] today they probably have plenty of data avalible from both traditional news outlets to the scummiest corners of reddit to perform statistical analysis and determine if a word is in common enough usage to be added

The word has some implications that aren't found in the english translation, but I doubt anyone would use it beside jokingly in reference to anime.

[QUOTE=nikomo;50324899]Can they add waifu and husbando whilst at it?[/QUOTE] Wiktionary staff apparently believe it to be enough of a word that they've [url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/waifu]had a page for it[/url] since 2013. I don't know how much authority we give Wiktionary staff in matters of the English language, but it's progress

[QUOTE=Anderan;50323962]Is fam really that common? I never hear it outside of people shitposting.[/QUOTE] People have been saying fam for years irl. At least in the UK and in American rap music. I'm sure I've heard my mum say fam before It only seems to have recently taken off on the internet [editline]16th May 2016[/editline] I've never heard senpai in real life and don't think I'd ever seen it before about 6 months ago and only recently looked up what it actually means. But then I'm not really that big on anime or internet culture. It's weird, the internet is a sort of bubble. [editline]16th May 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Droogie;50324703]anime is pretty mainstream[/QUOTE] I really don't think its as mainstream as you think it is, and this is what I mean by the internet being a bubble.

[QUOTE=space1;50328469]Anime is contended to have been derived from a french word, animé.[/QUOTE] au contraire, that in turn ultimately derives from the Latin [b]Animos[/b] which means "to animate/give life to" [editline]16th May 2016[/editline] there's actually quite a lot of Japanese words which derive from Latin, mainly because of the influence of the Jesuits/Catholic Church and Portuguese during the Sengoku Jidai

[QUOTE=Anderan;50323962]Is fam really that common? I never hear it outside of people shitposting.[/QUOTE] Calm urself fam

merriam-webster and oxford are now jokes all that prestige wasted on a few dumbass fucking memes

[QUOTE=EpikEnvy2.0;50330869]merriam-webster and oxford are now jokes all that prestige wasted on a few dumbass fucking memes[/QUOTE] "meme" is in the dictionary :v:

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/vtmYLlT.png[/IMG]

[QUOTE=EpikEnvy2.0;50330869]merriam-webster and oxford are now jokes all that prestige wasted on a few dumbass fucking memes[/QUOTE] you mean the prestige they earned while being an institution that made it a point to keep track of a constantly evolving language rather than taking a snapshot of it and denying any further changes whatsoever, especially those that they arbitrarily consider degenerate? i think it's a testament to their integrity that they acknowledge that the language is changing in spite of whining from people like you who would rather keep your heads buried in the sand and deny any change at all just because you've decided it's silly