The English language gained its estimated one millionth word June 10 with the addition of “Web 2.0,” a term referring to the next generation of the Internet. According to the Global Language Monitor (GLM), which uses a math formula to estimate how often words are created, currently more than 14 words are added to English every day. GLM president and chief word analyst Paul J.J. Payack said in order for words to make it into the count, they must make sense in at least 60 percent of the world and have been used at least 25,000 times.

 

While some individuals have challenged the accuracy of Payack’s word count, Payack readily admits it is just an interesting estimation: “It’s like the height of Mount Everest is an estimation. The height of Mount Everest has changed five times in my lifetime because as we get better tools, the estimates get better.”