Expanding the lexicon: automagically and ginormous

Posted on Apr 12, 2010 in Language | 1 comment

There are two kinds of people in the world: linguistic relativists and linguistic absolutists. Upon reading the title of this post, the first group shrugged their shoulders while the second group shuddered and winced. I hope for your sake, dear reader, that you are a relativist because otherwise you will be dismayed by this truth: like it or not, “automagically” and “ginormous” are both now officially part of the English lexicon.

Let’s take a look at these two “words,” which are neologisms: new words that enter into common usage. They are each conflations of two other words:

• Automagically – “automatic” and “magically”
• Ginormous (also spelled ginourmous) – “gigantic” and “enormous”

Thankfully, I’ve chosen to be a linguistic relativist (in most cases) so these two words—note that I’m no longer using air quotes around “word”—don’t give me fits. Fighting their acceptance is a losing battle… these two have been around for a long time and I’ve seen evidence lately that they’re becoming mainstream:

• According to Everything², the term automagically first appeared in the 1940s describing an ironing gadget, and that it also has been used in jargon since the 1970s.
• Automagically appears throughout the web, often on tech- or pop-culture related sites. Even plenty of folks are “named” automagically on the social networking site Facebook, which you can see here if you have a FB account.
• The font of all internet knowledge, Wikipedia, however, does not contain an entry for automagically. Apparently, my browser concurs, as it adds the accusatory red “misspelled word” squiggles time I’ve written it (or ginormous) in this post.
• Simon Cowell of American Idol fame used “ginormous” on the show’s March 6 episode in reference to the amount of talent one of the contestants displayed. (What does it say about me that I remember the use of the word but not which contestant he was referring to?)
• Googling “ginormous” returns results that include various dictionary entries (of varying degrees of repute), music groups, and photos of all sorts of things (though not all are wholesome).
• Indeed, even the Merriam-Webster dictionary succumbed to the ginormous pressure exerted by popular culture and added the word in its 2007 edition.

These and plenty of other examples are plentiful, so it’s probably okay if you want to drop either of these neologisms into your daily speech. I’d still avoid them in writing myself, but it probably won’t be long before some kid says “Automatically? Don’t you mean automagically?” If that day comes, here’s a bonus tip for you: how to spell these two when texting: gnrms and autmgly. You’re welcome.

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