Looks like MS Word is now the authority on how popular a word is. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) wants to use the word ‘pluton’ to describe a planet that isn’t really a planet (or something – like anybody really cares). Appearantly this is an issue because ‘pluton’ already has a meaning to geologists (geek death-match here we come).
What I think is funny is this statement from Owen Gingerich, an astronomer at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and chair of the IAU committee that created the definition.
“Since the term is not in the MS Word or the WordPerfect spell checkers, we thought it was not that common,”
What kind of moron takes MS Word spell check as an authority on ANYTHING. At least Google the word, or look it up in a dictionary.