I have recently come across a group of orphans who are destined to perish without your help.  As horrible as it sounds, these orphans have been scheduled for euthanasia because no one wants them.  Okay, you are guessing already that these orphans are not humans.  You are correct.  However, they are not stray dogs and cats either.  They are words.  Words that will be lost to the English language unless we take action.

I know English is a dynamic language.  Happily for dictionary publishers, the mother tongue evolves over time.  We are accustomed to the annual ritual of adding new words to the dictionary.  In 2009 alone, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary added nearly 100 new gems such as “acai,” “flash mob,” and “staycation.”  All well enough, but we tend to forget the ugly flip side of this linguistic survival of the fittest: perfectly good words fall into disuse and get deleted from the dictionary.  To make room for “frenemy” (someone who pretends to be your friend but is really your enemy), “fubsy” (short and stout) has to go.

Well, not if I can help it.  Collins Language, publisher of the Collins English Dictionary, has published a list of splendid words like fubsy that need saving. I have personally determined to do all I can for them, but I need your help.  Why should you care?  Well, I won’t embrangle you and leave you stumbling in caliginosity.  It’s just that these particular words are too wonderful to give up.  Once you see the list, I think you will agree it would be an olid, niddering act to exuviate these words from our lexicon.

These words have been slated for deletion from the Collins English Dictionary because Collins Language believes they have become extinct, meaning no one uses them anymore.  However, Collins will spare the words if they receive sufficient “proof of life” for them.  They are inviting people to “tweet” to @localwords outlining where and when they last heard these words, and whether they know that the words are still in usage. You can read more about Collins Language’s Twitter Survey of British Dialect Words here:

Collins Twitter Survey

So, how can you help?  First, take the Endangered Word Quiz and see how many of these words you know.  Find the quiz here:

Endangered Word Quiz

If you already know some of these words, by all means tweet Collins and let them know.

Second, use the Endangered Words Flashcard Deck to learn these words, then start using them!  You can find the deck here:

Endangered Words Deck

Of course, some folks may think you’re a wambly wassuck when you start blarring out words like hippletyclinch as you parzle down the drangway, but I think it will be a kickshaw for you.

Now, I’m feeling a bit hungry.  I think I’ll go make myself an ommuck.