How the Internet is enriching 
            the English language

Once upon a time, the English language was defined and protected by printed dictionaries.  The Internet has begun to change that.  When someone invents a good new word, it is possible to publish and disseminate immediately, without any form of official approval.  Here is a small sample of the thousands of new words suggested or identified as current: 

Awfulize - to imagine the worst possible outcome
Babymoon - period of calm organised by parents after birth
Barbecue stopper - conversation topic which causes discord at a social gathering
Boobophobia - fear of breasts, of course
Coffee - a person who gets coughed upon
Dashboard (v) - to monitor the state of a business
Esplanade - an explanation made by a drunk
Geekstress - a female geek
Henchgoon - a villain's evil assistant 
Horndoggery - randy, sex-crazed behaviour
Iron ranger - unattended machine that demands payment for eg parking
Katastroika - a disastrous reform
Muffin top - roll of flesh spilling over the belt
Noddy shot - post-hoc insert of TV interviewer responding to interviewee 
Obesogen - substance that makes you fat
Phoneslaughter - killing someone with your car while on the phone
Plussing - continuously improving something
Repot (v) - to make a career jump
Robo-dirigibles - large fake breasts
Rowback - a discreet reversal of opinion
Rowdy-sheeter - person with serious criminal record
Sousveillance - countersurveillance by those who are normally watched
Spokesweasel - PR lackey acting as mouthpiece for figure of authority
Testicle - a humorous question in an exam
Witch's knickers - plastic bags caught in the branches of trees

Visit the Double-Tongued Dictionary or the 'wordlustitude' site or for more. 

 
      Eggcorns - a mute point?

Eggcorns are words or phrases which have been innocently corrupted to a subtly different spelling because they appear to the user to make more sense, or sound better, than the (often obscure) original.  Some of them have very nearly been accepted as the correct form, which means that one day they probably will be.  Here are a few examples, ranging from the commonplace to the one-off:

another thing coming (think)
baited breath (bated)
banded about (bandied)
buy one’s time (bide)
cutting off your nose despite your face (to spite)
damp squid (squib)
doggy-dog world (dog-eat-dog)
explanation mark (exclamation)
for all intensive purposes (intents and)
free reign (rein)
hub-hub (hubbub)
just desserts (deserts)
a mind of information (mine)
mute point (moot)
one foul swoop (fell)
parting of the waves (ways)
pre-Madonna (prima donna)
spear of influence (sphere)
straight-laced (strait)
star-craving mad (stark raving)
tenderhooks (tenterhooks)
upmost importance (utmost)

To find out more about eggcorns, take a look at www.eggcorns.lascribe.net , which is where I found some of these examples.

Do please email me your own examples and I'll add them to the site.

See:

the plain English page
copywriting by the Copy Doctor
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