Tipsters are probably aware that language, especially English,
grows by adding new words that gain common currency as well
as going through word fads that allows one to identify a time
period from which speech or writing had occurred (groovy, no?).
Well, periodically the good folks at Oxford and their worldwide
minions scour English language usage in print, speech, songs,
other media in which language is captured, finding new words
and phrases that have increased in usage (binge watch much?)
and warrant being included in the OxfordDictionaries.com (ODC)
list of words/phrase and their definitions. Afterall, some people
don't feel comfortable always checking the urbandictionary.com
NOTE: The online, web-based OxfordDictionaries (ODC) is different
from the "Oxford English Dictionary" (OED), best known as a
paper product consisting of many volumes (I still have my old 2
volume concise version which requires one to use a magnifying
glass to read even when my eyesight was young). Here is
the difference from the FAQ on the OxfordDictionaries website:
|What's the difference between OxfordDictionaries.com
|and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)?
|
|The new entries mentioned above have been added to
|OxfordDictionaries.com, not the OED.
|
|The English language dictionary content on OxfordDictionaries.com
|focuses on current English and includes modern meanings
|of words and associated usage examples.
|
|The OED, on the other hand, is a historical dictionary and
|forms a record of all the core words and meanings in English
|over more than 1,000 years, from Old English to the present
|day, including many obsolete and historical terms.
So, the ODC is the "cool" version while the OED is the nerd version
of a comprehensive dictionary of English.
There are a few popular media accounts of the new words,
such as the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/14/smh-the-newest-additions-to-the-oxford-online-dictionary-include-cray-yolo-and-adorbs/
And the UK's Mirror:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/14/smh-the-newest-additions-to-the-oxford-online-dictionary-include-cray-yolo-and-adorbs/
NOTE: I include the Mirror website because they provide photos
that one might consider appropriate for aiding in understanding
the terms, such as one photo of Lindsay Lohan for "hot mess"
and Lady Gaga for "side boob". On the last term, I'm glad
that they didn't use a picture of an old fat guy in a "wifebeater"
(wifebeater is not a new term, see:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/wife-beater?q=wifebeater )
Here is a link to the blog entry on new terms on the ODC website:
http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/press-releases/new-words-added-oxforddictionaries-com-august-2014/
Here's a link to a popular media article on the new terms in ODC,
written for people like readers of the New York Post: ;-)
http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/08/oxford-dictionaries-update-august-2014/
Now, I'm sure that the guardians of the English language (not to be
confused with the other group involving the Galaxy) will be outraged
by the recognition of such words and phrases as legitimate elements
of discourse. To these folks I say:
Yo, stop the douchebaggery, give the new terms a bro hug, and
try not to get your listicles tied up. Yolo, so cotch.
-Mike Palij
New York University
[email protected]
P.S. Yes, I know that the use of "listicles" above is inappropriate for
the context but its rhyming similarity to "testicles" makes it
irresistible
to use. Don't make me mansplain it.
P.P.S. Yes, I included some of the new terms above so that my
spell checker will recognize them. Again, don't make me mansplain
it. ;-)
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