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'Fanboy' gets into the dictionary

gamepro.com — The folks behind the Merriam-Webster dictionary have added more than 100 words and phrases to the new edition of the Collegiate Dictionary, and "fanboy" is one of them. Interestingly, the entry says the word originated in 1919.

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tr0y85, on 07/10/2008, -3/+25Merriam-Webster? EVERYONE knows American Heritages is the superior dictionary, it has thinner pages, clearer print, and better covers!
- petebot, on 07/10/2008, -2/+27Yeah, sure, it's the best, if you like having less definitions. OED FTW!
  - Shoegaze99, on 07/11/2008, -3/+1You didn't get it, did you?
  - Velok, on 07/16/2008, -0/+0Whooooosh!
- leftfield, on 07/11/2008, -1/+48LIBRARIAN FIGHT!!!!!
- mickstephenson, on 07/11/2008, -12/+26There is only one English dictionary in the world that matters and its Oxford English Dictionary, you Amerifags can squabble all you want but it isn't a matter of opinion it's fact.
  - BoonTobias, on 07/11/2008, -6/+4yeah, and then you get the rrod lololol, n00b
  - sockrebel, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1this is why they also added the word "wing nut" this year.
    
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080707/ap_on_re_us/ne ...
  - Shoegaze99, on 07/11/2008, -1/+5And here's another one who didn't get it.
    
    Dude, tr0y85's post was a joke. A gag. A parody. He was playing on the whole "fanboy" thing.
    
    Pull the stick out of your ass and get a sense of humor.
- Gamoc, on 07/11/2008, -2/+6I don't believe you're fighting over dictionaries.
- kdkusano, on 07/11/2008, -6/+2NERRRRDDDDDD
- mickstephenson, on 07/11/2008, -4/+1On a more interesting note is this really Moby ***** a chick dressed up as a sexbot? http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/1/1 ...
  - ZeRux, on 07/11/2008, -2/+1And the description sucks: "boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies." - wtf, I could write a better (and more accurate) one.
- spoiled1, on 07/11/2008, -2/+4You sound like American Heritage's fanboy.
- rexcom, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1Are you reporting live from the basement of the science building?
Natitude, on 07/10/2008, -1/+35I just can't imagine hearing the term Fanboy back in 1919.
- Doomsan, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3Fanboy of...steam machines?
  - TheCosmicFool, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1Steampunk fanboys, they still exist today!
  - rexcom, on 07/11/2008, -2/+2That would be John McCain.
  - kelchm, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1I lol'd
- latova, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1I think it was used as a term related with boys attached to comics, but with the invention of the internet the term is more widely used and is now seen as being much more negative.
- robbob, on 07/12/2008, -0/+3It goes back further to the days of Julius Caesar with the women feeding him grapes and the boys fanning him with palm leaves--
  "more wind fanboy"
ethornquist, on 07/11/2008, -2/+5Uh, let me ask my GranPappy about this.
trispear, on 07/11/2008, -7/+2Isn't Fanboi the correct spelling? Jeesh, get with it MW!
- sgtpppr, on 07/11/2008, -1/+2Only if you listen to Avril Lavigne and/or are 14.
  - inyearstocome, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2um, who else uses the word? Its one of the most annoying words in existence and overuse as of late.
galvo, on 07/11/2008, -4/+76Hopefully they put an Apple logo next to the description.
jazh, on 07/11/2008, -2/+26But is it in the Oxford Dictionary? - This is the question!
DivisibleByZero, on 07/11/2008, -24/+3Ugh, how lame. Is FAIL in there yet?
- d1a1s1, on 07/11/2008, -0/+34Believe it or not but the word "fail" has been around long before the internets.
  /sarcasm
PrometheusZero, on 07/11/2008, -5/+561919? I swear I thought it originated in 1337... :/
Dan11023, on 07/11/2008, -14/+8XBOX 360 > Feces > WII > PS TRIPLE

I really hope you guys enjoying paying $50 a month for ONLINE!!!
HAHAHAH NO BLU-RAY!!

Do you know why they call it the 360? Cuz they turned the original XBOX, 360 degrees....

Sony always wins baby, sony always wins
you cant beat sony

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- Magnolit, on 07/11/2008, -1/+7You make me sad.
- Dundasbro, on 07/11/2008, -2/+11Sarcasm? If not, then you might want to change your greater than signs before the edit time runs out and it becomes embarrassing...
- FUR10N, on 07/11/2008, -2/+1so if they only turned the xbox around 360 degrees, then how did it change colors and shape?
- Rolamoto, on 07/11/2008, -1/+10If you don't understand, it's a reference to some of the worst PS3 fanboyism on digg.
- LeviTheSmith, on 07/11/2008, -0/+11YES PS3 FTW!!!!!!!!!!
  360 = FAIL
  M$ WANT ALL YOUR MONEY! $500 A WEEK FOR ONLINE IS OBSUR!!!!!!!D!!!!!!
  CELL = 10 POWERPC CORES @ 3.26PHZ! = POWER OF 300 HUMAN BRAINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! = BEST PROCESSOR EVER MADE = BETTER THAN XBOX(((((( MORE LIKE SEXBOX! HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA )))))))))))
  
  KAAAACKAKCAGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAKAAA
  
  PS3 FTW PS3 FTW PS3 FTW PS3 FTW PS3 FTW PS3 FTW PS3 FTW PS3 FTW
  SONY $0NY S0NY $ONY SONY $0NY S0NY $ONY SONY $0NY S0NY $ONY SONY $0NY S0NY $ONY
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  - seraph582, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2see, I can tell the OP is kidding, but I can't tell if you are - you never can w/ the Sony types.
  - Jeffler, on 07/11/2008, -0/+6Dugg for Rick ASCII
Napalmhaze, on 07/11/2008, -12/+3Isnt this story a week old?
- mickstephenson, on 07/11/2008, -1/+10Isn't you comment generic and plain bury bait?
- creep303, on 07/11/2008, -2/+3Digg: srs bsns
- seraph582, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1yep it hit digg a couple times already. Ah well.
jezsik, on 07/11/2008, -1/+4Would some kind soul please provide the explanation as to how this word originated nearly a hundred years ago? Game related sites are blocked at the office. :-(
- chiefbandit2200, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1It doesn't say =[
  
  Here's the definition though:
  Fanboy n. (1919): [a] boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies."
lebatte, on 07/11/2008, -0/+6From the Oxford English Dictionary:

1919 Decatur (Illinois) 6/2 "It was a shock to the *fan boys when Cincinnati..beat the Chicago White Sox."
lead2thehead, on 07/11/2008, -7/+1Slang does not belong in the dictionary. Ten years from now, nobody will be saying "fanboy" or even care what it means.
- Shoegaze99, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1Wrong. The word has already been in common use for 25 years. Sorry to break the news for you, but it has long since passed the fad stage. It's not going anywhere.
  - lead2thehead, on 07/12/2008, -2/+025 years my ass. It's been used on internet message boards for *maybe* 5 years and that's being generous.
  - Shoegaze99, on 07/12/2008, -0/+2"25 years my ass. It's been used on internet message boards for *maybe* 5 years and that's being generous."
    
    Wrong again. The term was being used in magazines like the Comics Journal in the early 1980s and in parody strips featuring dudes like John Byrne. Among comic fandom, the term appeared in print throughout the 1980s, including in price guides, "Fandom Confidential," and Ambush Bug.
    
    You don't have to *like* these facts, but they are facts. You are wrong.
- opnickc, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3"Ten years from now, nobody will be saying 'fanboy'."
  
  Perhaps not, but what if, ten years from now, you go and read something written today? Might be useful if the dictionary has a definition for the peculiar word you just ran across. . .
  - lead2thehead, on 07/12/2008, -2/+0If it's anything worth reading, the word "fanboy" won't be in it.
earnjam, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3And Digg users rejoiced.
detokaal, on 07/11/2008, -0/+5Read carefully. Dictionarys do not define words - they report on how they are currently being used. That is why you see new words added and old definitions change or get modified. No one is making up new words or uses and deciding how the English language should be used.
- bjs3171, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3of course they define words. that's what the block of other words is after each entry. language is just perpetually changing, that's all.
- Chomprel, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1Irony: incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: Example: misspelling the word "Dictionaries".
retawd, on 07/11/2008, -8/+2Fanboy is still the weakest insult ever. EVAR!
It doesn't matter if the other person is standing there dressed in a Halo outfit, the person who uses the term "fanboy"is still the biggest loser in the room. Any room, anywhere.
Oh yeah, and like some others said, OED is the only real dictionary.
- bjs3171, on 07/11/2008, -0/+8shut up Oxford fanboy, everyone knows Webster is the official Scrabble book.
zebula234, on 07/11/2008, -2/+2I hate the word fanboy. If you go to any tech forums it's thrown around entirely too much and you can tell its a bunch of rich 13 year old kids who buy computer parts with their dad's money.
NikoK, on 07/11/2008, -3/+1What about fangirl, there sure are a lot more of those.
- toxicshok, on 07/11/2008, -1/+6No girls on the internets. Get your facts straight.
- Pthalio, on 07/11/2008, -1/+2I post therefore I am
  - wolfer, on 07/13/2008, -1/+1Fake.
LZeppelinJ0, on 07/11/2008, -0/+7I'm sure they'll put a photo of a bunch of Digg users humping Steve Jobs' leg next to this entry.
ZincSaucier, on 07/11/2008, -1/+9thank god now people wont have to look up fan and boy seperately.
whoreable, on 07/11/2008, -8/+3I thought it was spelled fanboi.
bjs3171, on 07/11/2008, -1/+2so what was the original usage? to describe someone to keep rich people cool?
zionKing, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3I predict "fanperson" will be introduced in two years as the more acceptable alternative to fanboy
dpcdomino, on 07/11/2008, -0/+7Fanboy (fan-boi) n- 1) an internet idiot. 2) An avid fanatic of a certain commercial goods, normally blind.
Used in a sentence: "I am not a Fanboy!"
BassJunkie, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3who needs mw or oed?

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fan ...

Sorted.
1807, on 07/11/2008, -5/+1My definition of Fanboy would say "see digg.com"
kingUssop, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1They forgot the part about them being emotionally unstable, and exploding whenever someone calls them a fanboy or reviews the product they're in love with.
johnvid, on 07/11/2008, -1/+0Is GOATBOY in there?
M724, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1All that's left is for them to add the gaming concepts of "camp," "flame," "pwn," "frag," "grind," "rush," "n00b," and "l33t."
MaxP3, on 07/14/2008, -0/+1we takin over!
Swampthing, on 07/14/2008, -0/+1Just as many folks are switching to spelling it "fanboi," the older version finally makes it in the dictionary.
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'Fanboy' gets into the dictionary

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