Do you ever stare off into the distance and wonder what our language might sound like ten, twenty, or fifty years from now? What words would we still be using? What words would be considered out-of-date or obsolete? It’s strange to realize that the phrase you used just yesterday might someday have no real meaning. And we make up words all the time. Dictionary folks are constantly plucking up new terms to include in the next year’s version, and as time goes on, our twists of grammar, spelling, and slang tosses so many variables into the mix, something is going to stick.
This article…
http://discovermagazine.com/2008/apr/10-you-just-readed-this-headline-correctly
…talks about a few examples of how some regular verbs, like “read” or hold,” have a half-life that can be mathematically predicted as to when they will adapt to language shifts based on the amount of their use. Of course, according to this model, should the English language stick around for so long, it will still be several thousand years before “hold” becomes “holded.” So I wouldn’t worry about ordering a new dictionary anytime soon.
Have you ever found yourself using a word you later discovered wasn’t a real word at all, or some version of it that you thought was proper until it got snagged in the spell check?
I see that smile.