The Blog Dictionary by Kenneth Lyen Language is such a wonderful thing. It behaves like a living organism, changing and growing constantly. Recently there has been a spate of new words associated with blogging. I decided to do a bit of research on this important topic. To my utter amazement, there are already in existence several online dictionaries of terms related to blogging. Not all the new words will survive. Natural selection will see to that. But it is fascinating to see new ones appear, and old ones fade into oblivion. Check out some of these online dictionaries: 1. The Samizdata Glossary is probably the best collection of blogging definitions. They explain: "Like all internet formats, weblogs, also known as 'blogs', have developed many terms which may baffle newcomers. The Blogging Glossary is a resource for people who want to decode and demystify the jargon they may encounter whilst cruising through the blogosphere." http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary.htmlhttp://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary.html 2. Another reasonably good site is the well-respected Wikipedia encyclopedia. It has a dictionary which lists some of the more important new blogging terms: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Pagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page 3. The Compendium of blog terms is worth a glance: http://www.lights.com/weblogs/tools.htmlhttp://www.lights.com/weblogs/tools.html 4. And the Pseudodictionary has a few additional terms not found in other dictionaries: http://www.pseudodictionary.com/search.php?letter=b&browsestart=700 5. Volume 1 of Chris Pirillo’s Blogger’s Dictionary is out, but it is a bit too short: http://chris.pirillo.com/blog/_archives/2003/8/21/67795.htmlhttp://chris.pirillo.com/blog/_archives/2003/8/21/67795.html 6. If you have a wacky sense of humor, you might just get stuck into the Urban Dictionary’s definitions of "blog": http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blog&r=d Below I’ve selected a few of the terms that I have personally found interesting, and if I were ever to assemble a glossary, they would probably be included: blawg (noun) - a web log written by lawyers and/or concerned primarily with legal affairs. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/002511.html bleg (verb) - to use one's blog to beg for assistance (usually for information, occasionally for money). One who does so is a 'blegger'. Usually intended as humorous. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/003852.html blog 1. (noun) - short for weblog. A meandering, blatantly uninteresting online diary that gives the author the illusion that people are interested in their stupid, pathetic life. 2. (noun) - a common typo for the word bog 3. (verb) - to write an article on a blog. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blog&r=d blogarithm (noun) - an automated system of informing readers whenever a blog is updated. blogasm (noun) - having a orgasm or comparable sensation when blogging. http://saph.com/blogspot/2004/08/blogasm.html blogathy (noun) - when you just don't give a damn about posting in your blog that day. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/001987.html blogcritic (noun) - a blogger writing critical reviews and opinion on music, books, movies, television, celebrities, technology, politics and countless other topics. http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/09/01/132317.php blogerati (noun) - the blogosphere (qv) intelligentsia. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/001986.htmlhttp://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/001986.html blogger (noun) - someone who keeps a weblog. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/001965.html bloggerel (noun) - variant of "doggerel." Opinion put forward on a blog that has previously been repeated over and over and over again until it makes people sick. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/002539.html blogogler (noun) - people who read blogs but refuse to start one themselves. Those fringe readers who lurk, post comments that clearly indicate that they have something to say, but refuse to come into the light. http://www.pseudodictionary.com/search.php?letter=b&browsestart=700 blogtastic (noun) - a fantastic blog. blogchalking (noun) - tagging a blog by placing meta information on a blog’s template so that it can be searched. blogfather (noun) - an owner of a blogging website. blognoscenti (noun) - A blog connoisseur. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/002005.html blogology (noun) - the science of blogging. blogorrhea (noun) - an unusually high volume output of articles on a blog. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/001964.html blogosphere (noun; alternate: blogsphere) - the collective term encompassing all weblogs: weblogs that are heavily interconnected; bloggers read other blogs, link to them, and reference them in their own writing; because of this, the interconnected blogs have grown their own culture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogosphere http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/001962.html http://www.microcontentnews.com/articles/blogosphere.htm blogroach (noun) - a reader who infests the comment section of a weblog, disagreeing with everything posted in the most obnoxious manner possible. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/001985.html blogroll (noun) - a collection of links to other weblogs that are found on most weblogs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogroll blogstipation (noun) - to be unable to think of anything to blog about, i.e. writers’ block for bloggers. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/001999.html idiotarian (noun) - a term of abuse for an advocate of what are deemed to be irrationalist and subjectivist values that have very little reference to the workings of the real world. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/002117.html klog (noun) - a personal web site that contains annotated links to other Web sites. http://radio.weblogs.com/0106698/2002/10/26.html meta-blogging (verb) - to write blog articles about blogging. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/001992.html warblog (noun) - a weblog devoted primarily or exclusively to the user or users' thoughts on military and political activities regarding the War on Terrorism and the U.S.-led military action in, and subsequent occupation of, Afghanistan and Iraq. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warblog http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/001973.html webliography (noun) - a bibliography of web sources. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2614839.stm weblog (or simply a blog) - web application which contains periodic, reverse chronologically ordered posts on a common webpage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weblog webnesia (noun) - the act of loading a web browser, then instantly forgetting the site you were going to visit. A very common ailment. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2614839.stm wiki (noun) - a type of collaborative on-line software that allows readers to add content on a subject, which can also be edited by others