Yesterday BusinessWeek.com introduced us to Tom Pitoniak, an associate editor at Merriam-Webster.

...Pitoniak must distinguish between words that legitimately should be in the dictionary and all that other matter sloshing around the English language: slang, industry jargon, onomatopoeic fillers, brand names, buzzwords, abbreviations, and the like. The new Web—flooded as it is with blogs, message boards, and Web pages containing the computer literati's conversations—is awash with such words. "It's kind of dizzying," says Pitoniak.

Is it just me or isn't this what lexicographers are supposed to do? What's the big story here?

Keeping Up With the Web's New Lingo [BusinessWeek.com]

WordHumper is on a bit of a spring hiatus as we take care of some real-work craziness. Stay tuned...