English-language authority The Oxford English Dictionary recently added Internet slang, specifically the abbreviation LOL (laughing out loud), to its tome.

The entry:

LOL: Originally and chiefly in the language of electronic communications: 'ha ha!'; used to draw attention to a joke or humorous statement, or to express amusement.

Parents, teachers and scholars everywhere sighed with defeat. Does this really mark "the death of the dictionary," as one blogger called it? Is our language deteriorating?

Not necessarily.

Tony Thorne, author of the Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, tells the BBC that kids use slang words to help form their generation's identity:

"Government educationalists get all worked up about words like LOL — they see them as substandard and unorthodox."

"But the small amount of research on this issue shows that kids who use slang abbreviations are the more articulate ones. It's called code switching."

He says that slang enriches the language, it doesn't kill it.

As for the criticism that LOL is just a lazy, childish construct, consider that the term serves a real purpose: in a digital age, we need to find ways to convey tone in text.

Rob Manuel of humour site b3ta weighed in saying, "the truth is, we do need emotional signifiers in tweets and emails, just as conversation has laughter."

Graeme Diamond, the Oxford English Dictionary's principal editor for new words agrees:

"There will always be a minority who want the English language to remain as a frozen beast, that doesn't admit changes," he says. "But language is a vibrant, evolving animal."

The word heart is now defined as both a noun and a verb; and kids heart text-speak.

Not every word in the dictionary is considered academic-essay-worthy. This doesn't negate the constant evolution of language.

Next time you think your teenagers are speaking in code, you're probably right. And if code-switchers are the articulate ones, don't fear their use of the LOL.