Online idioms not fit for lexicon

Some netizens have suggested that some new "idioms" that have become popular online and are "user-friendly" be included in the Modern Chinese Dictionary. But since infrequent or non-Internet users may not understand these idioms, the netizens' suggestion should not be taken seriously, says an article in Changsha Evening News. Excerpts:

The Chinese language, like any other language, faces the problem of which outdated terms and idioms to discard and which new ones to embrace to maintain its vitality and dynamism. So even though some "new idioms" have become very popular with regular Internet users, they cannot be immediately included in the Modern Chinese Dictionary.

Since the Modern Chinese Dictionary serves as the standard, and authoritative and serious reference book to other dictionaries, the entries in it have to have three major characteristics, which the new online idioms lack.

The new user-friendly online idioms are the products of heated online discussions on a wide range of topics. This means the chances of future online debates continuing to throw up newer idioms and making the ones in circulation redundant are very high. So where do we draw the line?

Most of the idioms in the Modern Chinese Dictionary are the result of history; they have historical allusions and have evolved overt long periods of time. And the application of such idioms is much wider in society, unlike the ones doing the rounds on the Internet now.

The idioms thrown up by the Internet could be included in the Modern Chinese Dictionary only if they survive the test of time. But until then, we have to make do with the idioms that have universal acceptance.

(China Daily 08/27/2013 page9)