It's all over the media that the most entered word in the online version of the Merriam-Webster dictionary is "blog," which in fact short for another new word, only slightly older: "weblog."

This news is especially gratifying in that neither word has officially made it into the Merriam-Webster dictionary, and therein lies the truth: everyday people decide what language is, and they do it without asking permission.

Since my typical medium is audio, there is always concern about using any and all new words. Take the word "Internet" which we hear all the time on the air. About a decade ago, you never did. So, whenever we said the word "Internet," we'd make sure to define it. We'd say, "The Internet … this network of networks …" and then we'd go on. It took several years before we felt comfortable simply saying "the Internet" - but it became the acceptable term as the technology rose.

Besides … we had greater problems. Should we say "http://" before we say "www?" In no time at all, we were even leaving off the w's, and heading straight for the website name.

One aspect we especially pay attention to in audio is what neuroscience tells us about the operation of the brain. When humans hear something new to them, their hearing literally goes out. We shut down the audio while we exhaustively search our memory banks for some definition, reference or context. And like any search, the less satisfying the answers that come back, the more the brain continues to search and the longer it takes.

Scientific measurements indicate it can take up to a second and a quarter before we go back to processing the audio stream around us. So if you're on the radio, it's best to remember that all-important "second after" should someone find a word incomprehensible.

Let's say "Joey" is a name listener's have never heard before - in fact, let's say they're not even sure they're hearing a name or even a noun. So, if when a listener hears the word "Joey" for the first time in the sentence "Joey never beats his wife," what he might truly have understood is "Joey … beats his wife."

And that just might be exactly what he heard.

There are ways around this that are extremely simple. Even after we stop defining the word every time we use it, we spend many more months just saying the word and than taking a little pause. To listeners who already know the word, it sounds fine, and for new listeners, they don't get hopelessly confused. They also don't call in or email, insisting that they know what they heard.

Which circles me back to the new word: "blog," which has been cautiously floating around Tech Nation interviews for years and is now used constantly. I think it turned the corner permanently this year, when the Democratic convention issued press credentials to bloggers. But it might have been even earlier, when it was the bloggers who wouldn't let Trent Lott off the hook for his remarks at Strom Thurmond's birthday party. However it was that "blogging" got traction, it's the latest tribute to the human brain, both to create language and to quickly adapt it.

But let's not forget- it's also a tribute to technology. Without the Internet and worldwide communications and even its sidekick mass media, there would be no need for word: "blog." So remember it. It's among the first of many more to come.

I'm Moira Gunn. This is Five Minutes.

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