Words are like Animorphs

The reason I like the Oxford English Dictionary is because it makes you realize that words are not static in their definitions-- anyone can change them as long as they have already established themselves as important wordsmiths or intelligentsia. Having a certain level of mastery of English, and allowing people to know about it, automatically puts you in the "I can change words" category. How amazing is that?

But we, the commonfolk, are taught that words have a particular definition, and if we use words in ways different from Merriam-Webster, we are considered unlearned and idiotic. Who says you can't pronounce "niche" like nitch? Or "omnipotent" like OMni-potent? What if it sounds cooler to pause before the "potent"? James Murray (the editor of the 1st ed. of the OED) said you should always pronounce the p at the beginning of words such as "pneumonia". I mean, I don't see anyone doing that, but nobody called him a dumbass because he tried.

Words evolve, just like everything else. That is one thing I like about them. They are uncertain little clusters of phonemes that only mean something if at least two people agree on them. Words didn't even have correct spellings until after the mid-18th century, probably even later. Even names were spelled every which way. That is, until dictionaries started to be produced, and then more people got literated, and the important idiots decided each word needed to have one spelling only, so they could make fun of the people who got it wrong.

And I didn't even read the OED; it's unfathomably expensive. I just get the word of the day by e-mail here. But if you sign up for it, it will not only tell you the many definitions of one word, but also the evolution of that word, from its earliest form to the present, which kicks dictionary.com's word of the day in the ass.

I love words.