Noah Webster is rolling in his grave
‘Bling Bling’ Added To Oxford English Dictionary
04.30.2003 7:00 PM EDT
Term joins words like ‘jiggy,’ ‘dope’ and ‘phat’ in the definitions resource.
The next time you and your pals coin a slang term to describe your latest bejeweled accessories, don’t bet on keeping it exclusive. The linguistics “gangstas” over at the Oxford English Dictionary aren’t “new jacks” to the latest “def” lingo.
The venerable definitions resource has already added other hip-hop-turned-mainstream terms like “jiggy,” “breakbeat,” “dope” and “phat” to the online updates of the 20-volume dictionary, and now it has started drafting an entry for the latest OED-approved term, “bling bling.”
The term, which is used to describe diamonds, jewelry and all forms of showy style, was coined by New Orleans rap family Cash Money Millionaires back in the late ’90s and started gaining national awareness with a song titled “Bling Bling” by Cash Money artist BG.
The rapper, who is currently promoting his new album, Living Legend, told MTV News, “I’m so surprised that that word has spread like it has. But I knew it was serious when I saw that the NBA championship ring for the Los Angeles Lakers had the word ‘bling bling’ written in diamonds on it.”
And while BG once felt territorial about his much-loved term, he’s since opened his arms to the slang’s universal appeal.
” ‘Bling bling’ will never be forgotten,” he said. “So it’s like I will never be forgotten. I just wish that I’d trademarked it, so I’d never have to work again.”
Article Link: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1471629/20030430/bg.jhtml?headlines=true
8 Comments:
yup. that’s what american popular culture has given us over the years… bling. *rolleyes* It’s such a disappointment that the Cash Money Millionaire BG is responsible for making *sigh* “history”… blah.
the_sassypance
1:37 pm
Wait you do know that that was news over a month ago…at least that long. Obviously you’re on top of the current events…
luckycate
4:29 pm
well just shy of a month (4-30). But I wouldn’t really call this a “current event” anyway. It was on MTV.com so it’s not like I would have seen it in any online publication like CNN or on TV since I don’t watch MTV,lol
kevinblanchard
4:47 pm
Actually it was on CNN.com… That’s when I saw it. Way over a month ago, but I guess MTV.com is slow on the uptake. Why were you even reading MTV.com by the way?
luckycate
7:11 pm
Actually google news caught it for me while I was looking for something else.
kevinblanchard
7:23 pm
Actually, as I understand it, the Oxford English Dictionary is designed to record the English language as it *is* used, not as some people or other say it *should* be used. It is the essense of descriptive linguistics–describing reality–and the antithesis of prescriptive linguistics–setting [arbitrary?] rules and expecting people to follow them.
Since “bling-bling” is in popular usage, however colloquially, it deserves a spot in the OED.
(I followed your journal here from the community, and couldn’t help but defend my favorite book ever.)
flamingophoenix
11:31 pm
HA no worries 🙂
kevinblanchard
11:54 pm
Exactly!
Prescriptive linguistics makes my blood boil.
What’s with all this horseshit like the split infinitive rule? It’s syntactic crap designed to make English more unwieldy. Yes, its original purpose was to make translation into Latin easier because in Latin you can’t split infinitives, but sometimes in order to get the meaning you wish to get, you have to put the adverb before the verb in the middle of the infinitive to make it flow better (e.g. “To Boldly Go….” sounds a helluvalot better than “To Go Boldly”, IMNSHO) Anyway, time to get off my high horse.
artsygeek
5:40 pm