Do you speak Nerdic? Chances are you do -- it's reportedly one of the world's fastest-growing languages.
New "research" (we're still waiting on the white paper) from Pixmania, one of Europe's largest online retailers, claims that Nerdic is the fastest-growing language on the Continent due to its widespread use and adoption by all age groups.
Of course, it's not really a language: Nerdic refers to the buzzwords and acronyms that describe technological techniques or advances that are becoming integrated into everyday conversation. For example, consider the widespread use of terms like rickroll, mashup and googling.
"Technology has infiltrated our lives in many ways and at such a pace it's natural that it has developed a language of its own," said
Ulric Jerome, managing director of Pixmania.com, in an interview with U.K. newspaper The Telegraph.
Jerome said the language of geek speak should be officially recognized to "unite technology fans across Europe."
"More than 100 new words were added to the evolving vocabulary in the last 12 months -- more than three times the number added to the English language by the Oxford English Dictionary," according to a *Daily Mail *story on the Nerdic phenomenon.
But as quickly as new words are adopted, outdated techie terms must be discarded. So while words like UGC (for user-generated content), RFID and WiMax are introduced, phrases referring to obsolete technology -- like *floppy disc, VHS *and MiniDisc -- should be discarded.
What words do you think qualify as Nerdic? Submit your suggestions below and vote.
While you can submit as many terms as you want, you can only submit one every 30 minutes. No HTML allowed.
Photo: Flickr/Elle Moss
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