Not satisfied with regular updates of printed dictionaries compiled by professionals, a new Web site has thrown open the definition of words to all comers.
Wordia.com offers everyone the chance to record and upload a video of themselves defining their chosen word in a complete democratization of the language that will have Samuel Johnson, the compiler of the first dictionary, turning in his grave.
One early offering is the word "bungalow" — "One storey house. Grannies live in it. Often with cats. Originally an Indian word."
Another offering is "nascent" which suggests that wordia is a nascent technology that "takes something quite dull like a dictionary and makes it not quite as dull."
The organizers hope their new online audio-visual dictionary will become a living language archive. Time will tell.
