What is the significance of language? Did you know that besides the obvious differences between English and Spanish, such as the built-in sexism of masculine groupings in Spanish, or the rolling of the double R's that native English speakers cannot conquer regardless of effort (the best compliment I've received on my "RR's is..."Excuse me, are you Portugese? Your "rr"s are so strong") and the peculiar adding of "ito" by Americans to the end of English words to "spanishize" them, do you know that there is another important difference that governs how words are understood in English and Spanish?
Well, let me explain. English is considered an organic language--it happens naturally and changes itself with culture. We pick up words whenever we feel like it and we drop them just as quickly. Dictionaries are updated every quarter with new English words. Dictionary compilers, such as Oxfords Dictionary, make observations about the language around them and generally build the dictionary that way. As James Nicoll so eloquently stated...
The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.
English speakers, in a nutshell, pick and choose whatever they want, allowing creativity to be the guide. Spanish however, is quite the opposite. It kind of reminds me of arranged marriage. It doesn't develop naturally, but somehow it still works. In Spanish, there are "officials" who meet in Spain every year to decide how they will update the language. They generally don't take notes on what is popular in Spanish culture, they instead pick the most official words they can, and they add significantly less than English speakers do each year. Slang and creativity rarely make their way in. Maybe this is a good thing though. After all, the Oxford Dictionary just added the words LOL, OMG and WAG (wives and girlfriends) to the official English dictionary. Now thats a scary reality!
