The Standard of Record
A word is legitimate because it is used — recorded, dated, and credited here first.
Pop culture appoints itself the gatekeeper. A word is spoken for generations, then treated as “official” only once an outside dictionary or a celebrity co-sign says so — and by then the origin is lost. This record inverts that order. Black’s Dictionary is the point of first record: the word is entered, its origin fixed, and its credit assigned before anyone else stamps it.
Where legitimacy is decided
The usual order
- Spoken in the community for years.
- A celebrity or an album co-signs it — Kai Cenat stamps rizz; an album prints bling.
- A mainstream dictionary “makes it official.”
- Origin blurs; credit is lost.
The record’s order
- Spoken in the community.
- Entered here — dated, attested, and attributed.
- Origin fixed to its people and its place.
- Any outside recognition comes later — and cites this record.
Theoretically, unc would have held a record here generations ago — regardless of any recognition it earns now.
The rules of entry
Every word must meet the standard before it is recorded.
1
Genuine use
Attested in real speech or writing — not invented for the entry.
2
Traced origin
Region, era, and where possible the people or source who carried it.
3
Receipts
At least one datable source — a recording, film, text, or documented oral attestation.
4
Plain definition
The meaning as it is actually used — not sanitized or guessed at.
5
No hijacking
Misattributions — “coined on TikTok,” “a Gen Z word” — are corrected, never recorded as origin.
6
Held to review
Upheld by community consensus and verified on origin before it is recorded.
How a word enters the record
Five stages, each with its own keepers and criteria. A word earns its permanent catalog number the moment it is attested — and is credited from that date forward.
I
Submitted
A contributor enters the word, its definition, a usage example, its origin, and its sources.
Contributor
II
Attested
Keepers confirm the word is in genuine use. It receives a provisional catalog number and a date of record — its place in line is fixed from this moment.
Keepers
III
Traced
Griots verify the origin and attribution, date the receipts, and correct any misattribution.
Griots
IV
Upheld
The entry must clear a community-consensus threshold — currently 90% — with its sources intact.
Community
V
Recorded
The word is canonized into the permanent record: citable, dated, and credited to its origin for good.
The Record
Put it on the record.
If it’s ours and it’s used, it belongs here — first.