Oxford English Dictionary Will Include The Term "Nappy-Headed H*s"

OXFORD, England -- (CNN -- Cacophony News Network) -- The editors of the Oxford English Dictionary, the lexicon that is the definitive record of the English language, have decided to include the term "nappy-headed h*s" in the next edition of the OED.

Oxford representative Paige Turner acknowledged that the OED staff has received some complaints about this decision.

"We do realize that, in light of the recent Don Imus kerfuffle, this phrase has negative, and indeed, racially pejorative and socially unacceptable connotations and denotations," said Ms. Turner. "Nevertheless, TV, print media and popular culture in general have been saturated with this phrase as everyone from newscasters and journalists to pundits, commentators, activists, and ordinary people, have been using it. Zounds, I wish had a ha'-penny for every time Al Sharpton uses this phrase. However insulting, however demeaning, this unfortunate term has become part of contemporary linguistic usage, and as such, it merits inclusion into the hallowed pages of the OED. If people would not keep using this phrase in endless repetition while criticizing the man who used it one time on the air, then we would not now be canonizing it in the OED."

In a separate response to criticism that the inclusion of "nappy-headed h*s" would degrade the gravitas of the OED, Ms. Turner replied, "Our business is the study of language in all its forms. Besides, I think we already destroyed our gravitas when we included the word 'bootylicious' a few years ago."