You know those words that you are always saying and texting that are slang and not really words? Well, now thanks to the Oxford English Online Dictionary, (ODO) those slang phrases, like “phablet” and “srsly” are included in the official dictionary.
The words have been added in an effort to keep up with the popular lingo. With the everyday changes in technology, people constantly shortening the actual words while texting, the terms have become part of people’s daily vocabulary. Fashion and cooking terms, such as “jorts” and “cake pops” have also been amongst those words that were added.
The words "twerk" and "selfie" have been added to the dictionary. Good job America…
— Life As Bros (@LifeAsBros) August 29, 2013
The additions come at a good time, seeming as the word “twerking” has been a trending topic since Miley Cyrus’ raunchy performance at the VMA Awards on Sunday Night. The dictionaries official definition of “twerking”: a dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance. I think I can safely say that Miley was at least attempting to “twerk” during her performance.
“By last year, it [twerk] had generated enough currency to be added to our new words watch list, and by this spring, we had enough evidence of usage frequency in a breadth of sources to consider adding it to our dictionaries of current English,” Angus Stevenson, the head of dictionary projects at Oxford Dictionaries told CNBC.
“The internet and social media has given people a new place to discuss things and it is giving rise to a huge amount of vocabulary such as ‘selfie’,” she said.
Selfie is another popular term that has been added. According to ODO, the definition is: a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website. Now, come on, who has not taken a “selfie”?
Twerking has been added to the dictionary. In related news, I have lost all faith in humanity.
— Darth Vader (@DepressedDarth) August 28, 2013
Over 40 new words have been added this year, and many others are being tracked with ODO’s Words on the Radar. Here are some other definitions that have recently been added:
Girl Crush: an intense and typically non-sexual liking or admiration felt by one woman or girl for another.
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.
Srsly: short for seriously.
Phablet: a smartphone having a screen which is intermediate in size between that of a typical smartphone and a tablet computer.
Image via Thinkstock
