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Every time I offer to "get on a screenshare" with colleagues, Microsoft Teams marks "screenshare" with the dreaded red squiggly underline. I note that (as of August 31, 2023) the Merriam & Webster online dictionary does not have an entry for "screenshare", nor does the Oxford English Dictionary, nor Cambridge Dictionary, nor even Dictionary.com.

I also see that Merriam & Webster indicates that words get added based on the prevalence of usage; the more "screenshare" gets used, the more likely it will be added to the dictionary.

I would think the usage of the word "screenshare" has exploded since 2020. Is there any reference material that would corroborate or debunk that assertion? Is there a way to predict when it might get recognition by the most-referenced dictionaries? Is there already a derivative or synonym of "screenshare" that is already in place?

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Jeromy French
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    It's in Wiktionary and easily understood by most people who hear it. Even if it's not in the dictionary, it's certainly a word. – Heartspring Aug 31 '23 at 18:52
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    Might be worth commenting that OED does have flatshare, but its earliest citation comes from 1951 and it took seventy years for it to make it into the dictionary in 2021. – Andrew Leach Aug 31 '23 at 18:55
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    I’m voting to close this question because it is basically a complaint that the dictionary used by Microsoft Teams does not contain the word "screenshare." – Greybeard Aug 31 '23 at 19:08
  • Does this answer your question? What are the criteria to adopt new words into English? – MetaEd Aug 31 '23 at 19:28
  • Looking at this chart, the frequency of "screenshare" hasn't risen yet to the level of "textspeak", which was added by OED in 2022. Compare also "efax" which was popular for a short time and then disappeared from usage. I imagine lexicographers will add it when it shows it's up there with "textspeak". – MetaEd Aug 31 '23 at 19:40
  • "Screenshare" is a trademark owned by Quickbiz Holdings Limited. When you say "get on a screenshare" are you infringing that trademark, using it to refer to some product other than the app "Screenshare"? – GEdgar Aug 31 '23 at 19:45
  • The screenshare vs screen sharing chart shows that "screenshare" is far from being considered as a new word. – Graffito Aug 31 '23 at 21:27
  • Do we agree that the lockdown increased video meetings, and thus sharing screens? My feeling for newspeak is "Does "screenshare" mean something new and needed beyond what 'screen share' already did?" – Yosef Baskin Aug 31 '23 at 22:55
  • @Graffito that's so crazy (that there is charting of word usage)! That is the type of answer I was looking for! – Jeromy French Sep 01 '23 at 02:12
  • It still seems more common to write it as two separate words. But it's obviously become more common as screens have become more common. People tended not to screenshare in the 1930s or even the 1970s, and because it requires a reasonably fast network connection, it's only taken off since maybe 2000. – Stuart F Sep 01 '23 at 07:58
  • @StuartF I notice you wrote "People tended not to screenshare in the 1930s..." and not "People tended not to share their screens in the 1930s..." :) – Jeromy French Sep 01 '23 at 13:12
  • @Greybeard It's not just about Teams, they mentioned several other dictionaries that also don't list it. – Barmar Sep 01 '23 at 16:20
  • @GEdgar You can't violate a trademark with casual speech. Trademarks only protect use in commerce. If Zoom or Teams used "Screenshare" in their product or marketing, that might be an infringement. – Barmar Sep 01 '23 at 16:23
  • The trademark may be one reason that dictionaries haven't added the word. How long did it take before "escalator" and "kleenex" were in dictionaries? – GEdgar Sep 01 '23 at 20:02
  • Why was this question downvoted? It's a perfectly valid query. – Jackson Holiday Wheeler Feb 26 '24 at 09:11

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Every time I offer to "get on a screenshare" with colleagues, Microsoft Teams marks "screenshare" with the dreaded red squiggly underline. How is "screenshare" not yet a word?!

Your main complaint is that the dictionary in Microsoft Teams does not contain "screenshare". You may wish to take this up with Mr W. Gates.

Microsoft does not decide what is a word and what is not.

If you delve into Microsoft Team files, there will be one that has a list (or refers to a list) of words. You may be able to add to this.

A right click might bring up the "Add to Dictionary" option, which I suggest you accept.

Greybeard
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    Might I gently suggest that this does not actually answer the question, which is about acceptance into mainstream dictionaries, not personal and application-specific custom dictionaries. – Andrew Leach Aug 31 '23 at 19:10
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    @AndrewLeach Well, you can and you have done, but as the question is emphatically rendered as How is "screenshare" not yet a word?! and the basis for this claim is that some program does not accept it, then I feel that the question has been answered. If the OP is unaware of the time and effort required to amend dictionary entries, then I don't think that anything else is going to satisfy them. – Greybeard Aug 31 '23 at 19:15
  • @Greybeard Reading the question, I see no claim that because "screenshare" is not accepted by Teams, it is not a word. I see a question. – MetaEd Aug 31 '23 at 19:23
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    I am puzzled that the only person who has answered this question so far seems hostile to the merits of the question. – Jeromy French Sep 01 '23 at 02:15
  • My question is really about the mechanics of modern day dictionary maintenance (which is think is fair game within the "Word choice and usage" and "Etymology (history of words’ development)" topics--see https://english.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic). I'm just particularly interested in "screenshare" because I keep using it...perhaps incorrectly. – Jeromy French Sep 01 '23 at 02:18
  • @JeromyFrench My question is really about the mechanics of modern day dictionary maintenance: See https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/heres-how-oxford-english-dictionary-chooses-new-words-180960423/#:~:text=Four%20times%20a%20year%2C%20a,been%20considered%20the%20definitive%20dictionary. That was not at all clear. -- "because I keep using it...perhaps incorrectly" Hmm... that seems improbable as, if it were so, you would not use it at all... – Greybeard Sep 01 '23 at 09:26
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    Microsoft Teams doesn't seem to be the "main question", it's just where they first noticed it. Then they did further investigation in other dictionaries. – Barmar Sep 01 '23 at 21:14
  • @Barmar OK, then how about "My question is really about the mechanics of modern day dictionary maintenance"? The OP actually tells us the question. This should not be on EL&U. – Greybeard Sep 01 '23 at 22:49