Eco and the New Millennium: Current Coverage of eco- in Dictionaries

Eco and the New Millennium: Current Coverage of eco- in Dictionaries D! Brad. Benz ,ue to its flexibility as a combining form, eco- has been a considerable force behind the proliferation of green discourse in the English language. Common in scientific speech and writing as early as the 1920s and 1930s (for example, in ecosystem and ecosphere ), eco- gained increasing popularity as a modifier and combining form in non-scientific registers during the late 1960s and early 1970s, the same time frame in which it began to be treated as a headword in dictionaries. In Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language (1966), eco- is included with ec-: ec- or eco- also oec- or oeco- or oiko- combform ... 2: habitat or environment esp. as a factor significantly influencing the mode of life or the course of development However, in the 1968 printing of Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (2nd College Edition), eco- is listed as a headword in its own right. With its listing as a headword, eco-'s growing flexibility as a combining form was recognized; however, its flexibility has also presented an ongoing challenge to lexicographers trying to establish its meaning, particularly as eco- moved away from its roots in scientific registers and saw expanded use as a politically charged green modifier and as a regularly adopted, if not always ecologically sound, modifier in advertising and sales campaigns. The separation from ec- also coincides with increased use of ecoas a combining form. For example, OED2 offers these examples from Dictionaries:Journal oftheDictionary Soaety ofNorth America 22 (2001) 164Brad Benz October 1969 as the earliest written uses of eco- as a combining form in non-scientific writing: "eco-activists staged a 'Damn DDT Day'"; and "major eco-catastrophes seem bound to occur." OED2's eco- entry also includes the forms illustrated in "Beyond that lie [sic] the use of ecocidal weapons — herbicides in Vietnam — and 'humane incapacitante' " (from The Daily Guardian [1970]) and "I've been an ecofreak for 30 years" (from Natural Historian [October 22/23, 1970]). The Barnhart Dictionary ofNew English Since 1963 (1970) adds these other combinations : eco-political, eco-theologian, eco-activity, and ecocrisis; Russell and Porter (1972) enter Eco-bug and eco-Plastics, Inc. "Among the New Words," in American Speech.1 These examples demonstrate eco-'s increasing versatility as a modifier in non-scientific language and expose its semantic fluidity, as well: eco-activist, ecocide, eco-crisis, and even eco-freak reflect the early and continued politicized sense eco- can convey, while eco-activity and eco-theologian indicate a less overtly political and more general environmental awareness, even as eco-bag and eco-Plastics, Inc. initiated the rise of green marketing so prevalent today.2 Since the 1970s, eco- has seen increased and diversified usage, which should not be surprising given heightened scientific and popular awareness of both the continued destruction of the Earth and the political and economic expediencies that apparendy accompany such awareness. Indeed,John Ayto's entry for eco- in The Longman Register of New Words remains instructive in this regard: eco- prefix ecology; ecological Eco- has been par excellence the prefix of the late 1980s. It was common enough earlier in the decade — ecodevelopment, ecosocialism , (see Longman Guardian New Words) , ecosuicide, and ecotoxicity all come from that period, to name but a few — but when signs of global warming set the ecology bandwagon fully in motion in 1988/89, with world leaders climbing on to it and '[For an account of Mary Gray Porter's work on "Among the New Words," see Brenda K. Lester's interview with Porter in this issue of Dictionaries, pages 171-180.] —Ed. 2Green marketing continues today. A brief web search will yield the following products: Eco-foam (a starch-based packing material), the eco-toothbrush, Eco-cuisines food service, and eco yarn organic tampons. And the Eco Mall website lists hundreds of other eco-products and even some eco-investments. While some products have less impact on the environment than others, the so-called green marketing contradicts the ecological mantra of reducing consumption. Eco and the New Millennium1 65 British electors turning green in large numbers...