A funny thing happened on my way to the blog...

I was heading over here to post a movie write-up on the blog, but was waylaid by my RSS reader. Namely a Language Log post that directed me to an interesting column in the Times Online (Ben Macintyre's "Last Word" column, "Any word that embiggens the vocabulary is cromulent with me", Aug 11, 2007). It begins:

How do you create a new word? Why do some fresh-minted words gain instant and eternal currency, while others prove duds? We adapt words from other languages, from slang, from developments in science, literature and art. But mostly, these days, we adopt new words from a bright yellow and deeply dysfunctional television cartoon family by the name of Simpson.

Now this is my kind of linguistic discussion.

As someone who regularly uses the word "cromulent," I'm terribly pleased to see this usage condoned (in a fashion).

But I still am not likely to be going to the Simpsons movie in the theater. That's what t.v. is for, after all.