Neologisms, Dictionaries, and Etymology

If you'd like to explore any of the neologisms we discussed at the beginning of session three, this article on the Oxford Dictionaries Online blog provides a brief overview and some handy links to online dictionary definitions.  Elsewhere on the web, the term celanthropy is discussed on the Economist website, and the Washington Post encourages its readers to coin creatively in its annual neologism competition.

If "a game of cat and mouse" sparked an interest in everything cat-related, the ODO entry for cat is worth looking at. Interestingly enough (or not, perhaps) etymological details are provided below definitions and related phrases. Do you think this kind of information is useful for students?  The archives of the ELT Journal contain two articles from the 1980s on the value of etymology to the language learner - click here for "Etymological information : can it help our students?" and here for "Using Etymology in the Classroom". For an online dictionary of etymology, click here.

Do you think that etymological information is useful for language learners?  Please don't be shy: post your thoughts as a comment below (underneath the ones written by 2011's MA TESOL students).