Google has been your default dictionary for a while now — whether you realized it or not.
Instead of the search engine rerouting you to answers.com, you will be taken to Google Dictionary, replete with definitions from Wikipedia. I can only think of Urban Dictionary at this point. With the vast number of people who depend on Google for research, mail, Web browsing, an operating system, shopping, translations, and raising their kids, Google is making an unprecedented leap into how it shapes the linguistic future of the world — and seems to be heading for a pitfall.
The fact that this change was rolled out with zero fanfare is an immediate red flag.
The interface and elements are all the same, except that typing in a single word, performing a search and then clicking on “define” will take you to Google’s Dictionary. You may also find it at www.google.com/dictionary.
Doesn’t sound so bad, right? Think about the hidden scale that Google uses to define the popularity of Web sites. Now put this in terms of definitions: Assume that they are selected on this same hidden scale and returned as search results. Google’s dictionary has its own standard dictionary but returns many more definitions from sites it considers to be authoritative, including Wikipedia. Because Google’s ranking system is always changing, definitions are inconsistent and will be perpetually evolving. Those definitions that rank highest at the moment will be the ones returned most and will then in turn spur on the trend.
One eighth grader can look up “absolutionist,” and 10 minutes later, another could look up the same word and get a different definition. What this means is that the popular usage of words, including slang or various colloquialisms can start being returned as definitions. People will read these, accept them, as they tend to accept most things on Google, and continue this trend. The same thing can happen with misinformation and popular misconceptions seeded purposefully. The amount of things that can go awry and forever warp our language are staggering when you factor in the returned Wikipedia results as definitions. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure every instructor I’ve had in recent years has made it a point to say that Wikipedia is not a valid source before our term paper instructions are even given out.
Languages the world over may start to change rapidly and dramatically. The same way that information “exploded” once this new-fangled Internet grew into its own is the same thing we’ll see here, only it will affect the way we communicate. I’ve spent quite a few years learning my language as it stands, thank you very much.
In a strange turn of events, some words, such as “irregardless,” won’t return definitions, even though major dictionaries such as Oxford and Merriam-Webster will, while pointing out to you that they are technically incorrect. This is a perfect example of how the Google juggernaut can influence language, for better or for worse.
Languages always evolve over time, but what we may see here is in five or 10 years the sort of evolution that may have taken 50 or 100 in the past. The difference is that although dictionaries currently catalogue changes in language that occur naturally, Google will be at the forefront, artificially shifting definitions based on popularity.
Now, I’m not going to say it’ll be all bad. Perhaps only good will come of this. Languages may grow to be more eloquent or succinct as useless definitions for words (or words themselves) stop being returned in results. Possibly languages won’t devolve into “txt speech” or other slang, but become capable of conveying even more ideas and emotion than they do now. Languages may recombine as definitions link multiple words together from different languages and create one universal language, under Google, with liberty and justice for literacy.
The utter amount of power that Google possesses in addition to the amount it gains daily means that any endeavor it undertakes is a serious matter. Google has the potential to reshape the world in a peaceful way that nothing ever has before. It also has the power to reshape the way we think, the way the way we learn, and now the very words we use to express ourselves. Time will tell whether it is a dark overlord or a benevolent sovereign.
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