“I heart my dogs [sic] head”

A new definition for the verb heart has entered the Oxford English Dictionary: “To love; to be fond of. Originally with reference to logos using the symbol of a heart to denote the verb ‘love.’”

My favorite OED citation for the new definition comes from “About Helmet Visor Screws,” a 1984 post in the Usenet group net.cycle. The citation appears to be someone’s signature: “Joe ‘I heart my dogs [sic] head’ Weinstein.”

Numerous news items on heart state that the OED had added the symbol ♥. Not so. It’s a new definition of the verb heart that has been added, as the above quotations make clear. And yes, heart was already a verb.

Joe, wherever you are, welcome to the OED. It’s the OED that added the sic. And OED, rock on.

(Thanks, Daughter Number Three.)