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So w00t, a hoot of joy, using two zeros, was crowned the most successful new word of the year by a leading US dictionary. Did you react with a disgusted growl? Do you resist turning English N2 txt?

I am afraid the battle is lost: sms txtrs r > us curmudgeons, with their speed of communication and their shrt cts. Let’s celebrate the fact that ours is the world’s richest and fastest-growing language. English wins because it welcomes newbies.

The crossword elite have been mixing letters and symbols for years. I have in front of me a copy of 1 Across in which Otterden has ‘Airbus 320′ intersecting with ’39 steps’. That’s part of the added pleasure of the cryptics.

Here is a consoling thought. The new ‘w00t’ is probably folk memory resurfacing. I glanced through five Chaucerian tales and found woot in all of them: ‘I woot’, ‘God woot’ (it used to mean know). It came, as ‘whoot’, to have the modern meaning of ‘hoot for joy’ not long afterwards. Shakespeare used it, and ‘wootz’ crept into English briefly and accidentally in 1795.

The word has recurred in various forms through the centuries. Take a look at the delightful website of IWOOT, (I Want One Of Those – an acronym this time). It’s one of the most successful on-line trading companies with irresistible ideas.

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