The 'Add Typosphere to the Dictionary' Campaign

Typosphere \ˈtī-(ˌ)pō-ˌsfir\ n, also adj typospherian [MA] (2008)  1: A mythical place where manual typewriter enthusiasts 'post' typecasts (qv) of scanned typewritten articles, statements, opinions etc.

(And not forgetting that this morning, Richard Polt used the word "typospherious")

(PS: Apologies for my attempt at a dictionary entry!)

POSTSCRIPT: Taking due note of Richard's comment to this post, the Urban Dictionary's entry, credited to the great if rather eccentric typewriter inventor Lucien Crandall, reads:

typosphere
	The realm of online typewriter fanatics. They blog about typewriters and even use them to create typecasts. Check out this awesome Olympia SM9 I found at the thrift store today. I just had to share it with the typosphere! buy typosphere mugs & shirts blogosphere typecasts typewriter typing podcasting blog broadcasting by Lucien Crandall

Well done, Richard!

POST-POSTSCRIPT: In response to another comment, here is Deek's fine piece of artwork:

As Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary announces its latest additions, it seems timely to start the campaign for the inclusion of Typosphere (and typospherian). Surely these words now have sufficient currency to warrant a dictionary entry.

Artwork by Michael Clemens

These are wholesome words. Today the  Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary  confirmed that F-bomb, sexting, flexitarian, obesogenic, energy drink and life coach had been given legitimacy by being officially embraced within its covers.

The term F-bomb first surfaced in newspapers more than 20 years ago, but is now to join the mainstream. F-bomb is defined as using the F-word at an inappropriate time or place. Like, "Why the f - isn't Typosphere in the latest Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary?!"

Merriam-Webster has chosen 100 additions for the 114-year-old dictionary’s annual update, gathering evidence of usage over several years in everything from media to the labels of beer bottles and boxes of frozen food.

Artwork by Tori Forte

The word ‘‘tweet’’ led last year’s new-word highlights from Merriam-Webster. This year’s additions are more eclectic, said Kory Stamper (below), an associate editor for Merriam-Webster.

‘‘This is a list of really descriptive and evocative, fun words. Some years, not so fun. Some years it’s a lot of science words. Some years it’s a lot of words around really heavy topics,’’ she said.

There are a few of those this time around: copernicium among them. It’s a short-lived, artificially produced radioactive element that has 112 protons and is the most recent addition to the Periodic Table of Elements. It was first created in a Germany in 1996 and named for the astronomer Copernicus.

The recession blues are represented with ‘‘toxic’’, as it relates to an ‘‘asset that has lost so much value that it cannot be sold on the market’’.

Flexitarian, traced to 1998, is defined as ‘‘one whose normally meatless diet occasionally includes meat or fish”, while obesogenic (dating to 1986) is an adjective for ‘‘promoting excessive weight gain: producing obesity’’.

 Merriam-Webster wouldn’t release a full list of new entries, in part to put off competitors.

“Let them find their own new words,” a spokesman joked. But a sneak peak at the Top 25 was rounded out by: Craft beer, e-reader, game changer, a new definition for ‘‘gassed’’ as slang for drained of energy, gastropub, geocaching, shovel-ready (a construction site ready for work) and tipping point.

Well, for any dictionary out there looking for its “own new words” – try these: TYPOSPHERE, TYPOSPHERIAN.

Artwork by Rob Bowker, who had a major role in what Professor Polt described as "a good typospherious story".