What’s New In The Dictionary?

If vocabulary is your guilty pleasure, join us in a group hug to celebrate the selection of new words to Oxford Dictionaries Online. Genius!

Let’s set the scene. Your OH has left his brahs and decided it’s date night, and although he isn’t exactly ripped he’s made an effort with his new soul patch (lolz!) and he makes a hella delicious dirty martini.

Does that sound ridic, or even douchey?

Research from the Oxford Dictionaries team shows that these terms have made their way into common usage, hence their inclusion in the quarterly update of new words and meanings. Other additions inspired by contemporary culture include hot yoga, hosepipe ban, and e-cigarette.

The world of technology remains a major influence on the English language, with innovative advances reflected in new entries including ethical hacker, 3D printing, and e-learning. Social media also continues to shape language evolution: tweeps, video chat, lifecasting, and hat tip are among the latest words to make their Oxford Dictionary debut, while acronyms regularly used online (from lulz to OH and UX) have also been recognized.

Debate about how many times ‘ha’ should be added to the exclamation mwahahaha – another new addition, representing ‘laughter, esp. manic or cackling laughter such as that uttered by a villainous character in a cartoon or comic strip’ – is likely to rage amongst the tweeps.

Below is a selection of new words added to Oxford Dictionaries Online in THE August 2012 update

date night
dirty martini
douche
DW
ethical hacker
genius
group hug
guilty pleasure
hackathon
hat tip
hosepipe ban
inbox
lifecasting
lolz
micropig
mwahahaha
OH
photobomb
ridic
ripped
soul patch
tweeps
UX
vajazzle
video chat
vote someone/thing off the island
Wikipedian

(Oxford Dictionaries)