“Go look it up in the dictionary.” Mother’s oft-repeated words were an irritant of my childhood, but the habit stuck – as she intended. A well-worn dictionary is a short reach from the keyboard where I write. Spread throughout the house we must have a dozen dictionaries of various vintage.
My thoughts turn to lexicons because October 16 is Dictionary Day, honoring Noah Webster’s birthday.
Recently, I discovered a new Internet reference site that might leave Mr. Webster scratching his head. The NETLINGO dictionary explains text messaging shorthand, Internet acronyms and technology terms. Just the resource I need. In the world of text messaging I am 404 [“clueless” – originally an error code for a website address not found on the server]. NetLingo is now bookmarked in my favorites. Beware – text messaging language contains expletives that are listed by first letter and ***.
