Really? I don’t think so.

English is one of those languages that begs, borrows and downright steals from other languages to the point of stalking them down dark alleys. Where, before hitting them over the head with a dangling participle, rifles through a language’s pockets in search of any word it thinks it can get away with. It doesn’t care whether it’s bright, shiny, and new, or if it is dog-eared and long since forgotten. The only criteria is, can I use it?

You have to remember, languages live by adapting or die by stagnation. English (and yes, we’ll include American, Canadian, and Australian English here too) knows this and isn’t above grand theft and petty larceny in the verbiage world at large.

So, to any and all of you out there bemoaning the death-knell of the English language when reading announcements that the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) is once again adding new and controversial words to its pages. Ask yourselves, do we speak the same language of Shakespeare, or even the Victorians? Could you imagine a dapper-dressed Victorian saying, “I better Google that, or check that fact on Bing.” Eh, of course not. Nor do we, in our time, go around asking, “doth thine eyes, of palest emerald, beseech the heavens above …”

Hell, no!

We speak and write a vibrant, living, growing, transforming language that is constantly in flux and adapting to the changing needs of those using it.

And to that, I say, hallelujah!