If you’re an English purist, you may want to brace yourself or click the ‘back’ button. Over 1,000 words have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), and some of them are… (gasp)… text slang.
The most useful addition, in our biased opinion, is ‘ransomware’. Considering how large an impact ransomware is expected to have between now and 2021, it’s certainly good to have it acknowledged – and thoroughly expected after the advent of WannaCry.
Hyperlink has been added too, which honestly seems like something that should have been added the the OED before ransomware.
Other, more ambiguous additions are things like American rapper Jay-Z’s word – ‘swag’ being added to the dictionary. It’s the sixth OED citation, making him a regular Shakespeare.
Some of his other notable entries include things like ‘cheese’ – not the food, but as American slang for money. Actual cheese did in fact predate Jay-Z’s existence.
Some other new words:
- Hangry – This is a portmanteau of the words ‘hungry’ and ‘angry’. It’s meant to describe the feeling of you getting bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger.
- Tomgirl – A girl or woman who dresses in a manner that is conventionally associated with boys.
- CIO – Cry it out.
- Masstige – Another portmanteau of the words ‘masses’ and ‘prestige’. It means something that is cheap but marketed as luxurious.
If you’re a literary nerd like me, you can see the full list here.
