Why wasn't 'tweet' in the running for 1-millionth word fame?
At the very bottom of last week’s item bemoaning the coronation of “Web 2.0” as the 1 millionth “word or phrase” in the English language, I posed this question and comment: “What, no ‘tweet’? Shocking.”
After all, as cloyingly ubiquitous as Web 2.0 has become, it’s a lexicon wannabee when pitted alongside the verb formulation of “to Twitter”: namely, tweet.
What gives?
Stepping up today to offer a probable answer is Buzzblog reader Bruce Burke, who writes in an e-mail: “Tweet got snubbed because it’s not a new word like defriended, sexting and N00b.”
Doh! The thought had never occurred to me, despite having watched my fair share of Looney Tunes as a kid.
Burke continues: “The newly coined term ‘twitterati,’ used to describe the Twitter elite, should be a strong contender for inclusion in the list.”
Uh, actually, let’s not give them any ideas.
