This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/22/iraq-war-gives-english-new-words

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
WMDs, IEDs, DHS: how the Iraq war transformed the English language WMDs, IEDs, DHS: how the Iraq war transformed the English language
(6 months later)
War leaves indelible marks on our language. How could it be otherwise? Turn on the news anytime in the last 10 years and you were greeted with an alphabet soup of RPGs, UAVs, DHS and the ubiquitous (until we couldn't find them) WMDs. Open the paper, and you'd have to pick your way through the minefield of "sectarian violence", "collateral damage" and "enhanced interrogation techniques". Call your cousin or your mother and the conversation ebbs and flows with "surge" and "drawdown".War leaves indelible marks on our language. How could it be otherwise? Turn on the news anytime in the last 10 years and you were greeted with an alphabet soup of RPGs, UAVs, DHS and the ubiquitous (until we couldn't find them) WMDs. Open the paper, and you'd have to pick your way through the minefield of "sectarian violence", "collateral damage" and "enhanced interrogation techniques". Call your cousin or your mother and the conversation ebbs and flows with "surge" and "drawdown".
Lexicographers, too, spent time listening, reading, watching and tracking the words of the Iraq war. This is our job: to unfold the language like a map and plot the movements of various armies upon it. And lexicographers will tell you that language change is similar to regime change: you can plan and prognosticate all you like, but in the end you will always be surprised.Lexicographers, too, spent time listening, reading, watching and tracking the words of the Iraq war. This is our job: to unfold the language like a map and plot the movements of various armies upon it. And lexicographers will tell you that language change is similar to regime change: you can plan and prognosticate all you like, but in the end you will always be surprised.
Major events spawn new words to talk about those events, and you get an interesting overview of the Iraq war when you survey new dictionary entries in chronological order. "WMD" was the prime mover, both for the nation and in the language, and was entered into the Collegiate Dictionary in 2003. Over the next two years, we entered "jihadist", "DHS" and the espionage-related sense of "chatter". As the war faltered and violence spread, "IED", "RPG", UAV" and "sleeper cell" made their way into the Collegiate.

Five years into a war that Donald Rumsfeld famously claimed would last five days, or five weeks, or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that", the new entries relating to Iraq were no longer tactical, but human. "Hijab", "niqab", and "haram", all words from Islamic culture, were entered into the Collegiate. "Waterboarding" also made its debut as the starker, plain-talking cousin of the smoothly nuanced (and not yet entered) "enhanced interrogation technique".		Major events spawn new words to talk about those events, and you get an interesting overview of the Iraq war when you survey new dictionary entries in chronological order. "WMD" was the prime mover, both for the nation and in the language, and was entered into the Collegiate Dictionary in 2003. Over the next two years, we entered "jihadist", "DHS" and the espionage-related sense of "chatter". As the war faltered and violence spread, "IED", "RPG", UAV" and "sleeper cell" made their way into the Collegiate.

Five years into a war that Donald Rumsfeld famously claimed would last five days, or five weeks, or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that", the new entries relating to Iraq were no longer tactical, but human. "Hijab", "niqab", and "haram", all words from Islamic culture, were entered into the Collegiate. "Waterboarding" also made its debut as the starker, plain-talking cousin of the smoothly nuanced (and not yet entered) "enhanced interrogation technique".
Of course, lexicographers base new entries on the full range of a word's edited, public use; that is, a word's reported use. New words show us what people are reading, but not necessarily what they're thinking. But our modern age of global communication works two ways: information goes out, and information also comes in. Merriam-Webster tracks every word looked up in our Online Dictionary and ranks them by volume. The top lookups of 2003 to 2006 paint a muddier picture of the war.

The lookup logs from April 2003 read like a keyword list from a Tom Clancy novel: "regime", "coalition", "brigade", "fatwa", "semper fi", "vanguard" and "propaganda" overwhelmed more mundane lookups like "affect" and "effect". It was shock and awe, cinematic: things were happening so fast we could barely keep up. As the war progressed, "insurgent" shot to the top of the lookup list, then "collateral damage".

There was one startling, enduring lookup that no one could have predicted: "democracy". Democracy was in the top 20 lookups every year that coalition forces were in Iraq, and small wonder: were we not, after all, toppling a dictatorship and "bringing democracy to Iraq"?		Of course, lexicographers base new entries on the full range of a word's edited, public use; that is, a word's reported use. New words show us what people are reading, but not necessarily what they're thinking. But our modern age of global communication works two ways: information goes out, and information also comes in. Merriam-Webster tracks every word looked up in our Online Dictionary and ranks them by volume. The top lookups of 2003 to 2006 paint a muddier picture of the war.

The lookup logs from April 2003 read like a keyword list from a Tom Clancy novel: "regime", "coalition", "brigade", "fatwa", "semper fi", "vanguard" and "propaganda" overwhelmed more mundane lookups like "affect" and "effect". It was shock and awe, cinematic: things were happening so fast we could barely keep up. As the war progressed, "insurgent" shot to the top of the lookup list, then "collateral damage".

There was one startling, enduring lookup that no one could have predicted: "democracy". Democracy was in the top 20 lookups every year that coalition forces were in Iraq, and small wonder: were we not, after all, toppling a dictatorship and "bringing democracy to Iraq"?
But as the war spun on and we saw more of our siblings, cousins, and nieces and nephews deployed to the desert, questions piled up. Was democracy possible in Iraq? What sort of democracy? Given the Patriot Act, some said, who are we to talk about democracy? And others responded, who better? The more we talked about democracy in central Asia, the less we seemed to know what we meant by it.But as the war spun on and we saw more of our siblings, cousins, and nieces and nephews deployed to the desert, questions piled up. Was democracy possible in Iraq? What sort of democracy? Given the Patriot Act, some said, who are we to talk about democracy? And others responded, who better? The more we talked about democracy in central Asia, the less we seemed to know what we meant by it.
Meanwhile, the tours of our siblings, parents, spouses and neighbors were extended. We held our collective breath as insurgency increased, then hissed in disbelief when news broke that there probably were no WMDs after all. Public support tanked: a 2007 Pew Research poll found that 67% of adults thought things were going badly in Iraq. But even this was old news. A 2005 poll by the Washington Post and ABC reported that 60% of surveyed Americans thought the war wasn't worth fighting.

It showed. After "democracy", the top two lookups of 2003 were "quagmire" and "slog". "Quagmire", in fact, remained a common lookup through 2006, and our research shows that when it was being looked up, it was almost exclusively in relation to the war. In 2006, "quagmire" was joined at the top of the lookup list by a deceptively simple and painfully obvious search: "war".		Meanwhile, the tours of our siblings, parents, spouses and neighbors were extended. We held our collective breath as insurgency increased, then hissed in disbelief when news broke that there probably were no WMDs after all. Public support tanked: a 2007 Pew Research poll found that 67% of adults thought things were going badly in Iraq. But even this was old news. A 2005 poll by the Washington Post and ABC reported that 60% of surveyed Americans thought the war wasn't worth fighting.

It showed. After "democracy", the top two lookups of 2003 were "quagmire" and "slog". "Quagmire", in fact, remained a common lookup through 2006, and our research shows that when it was being looked up, it was almost exclusively in relation to the war. In 2006, "quagmire" was joined at the top of the lookup list by a deceptively simple and painfully obvious search: "war".
Ten years on, we seem to have lexical war fatigue. "Drawdown" and "withdrawal" have not piqued much interest among users, and none of the new words we entered this year have anything to do with the war in Iraq. "Yellowcake" now refers to a type of dessert, not uranium; a "roadmap" is not a plan to extricate your nation from war, but a thing your smartphone has that tells you how exactly to get to Starbucks.Ten years on, we seem to have lexical war fatigue. "Drawdown" and "withdrawal" have not piqued much interest among users, and none of the new words we entered this year have anything to do with the war in Iraq. "Yellowcake" now refers to a type of dessert, not uranium; a "roadmap" is not a plan to extricate your nation from war, but a thing your smartphone has that tells you how exactly to get to Starbucks.
Other armies are marching across the map of our language these days, and not all of them are hostile. (The top lookup this week has been "vernal", referring to the equinox). Some people may think the lack of interest in war-related words is unpatriotic. But perhaps it's proof that the marks left by the Iraq war – even linguistic ones – are still tender to the touch.Other armies are marching across the map of our language these days, and not all of them are hostile. (The top lookup this week has been "vernal", referring to the equinox). Some people may think the lack of interest in war-related words is unpatriotic. But perhaps it's proof that the marks left by the Iraq war – even linguistic ones – are still tender to the touch.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.