Time for the quarterly update of OxfordDictionaries.com.
And at the rate these linguistic overlords are scooping up brand new words from every nook and cranny of modern culture, it s a wonder the good book doesn t end up a big hot mess.
Hot mess, you say?
A person or thing that is spectacularly unsuccessful or disordered: this outfit is definitely a hot mess; he is out of control and a total hot mess.
According to a post by Oxford, a whole slew of spanking new words are being added to our collective lexicon:
We don t mean to , but the August update to is good and to interest and impress you. Throw an or have a (don t be and or show us the ); be a and join the vocabulary and read on to discover which new words from the worlds of popular culture, technology, the news, and more have been added to.
Some of the words are easy to decipher, either because they sound like what they mean (air punch, for example) or they re laden with enough hints (bro hug) for the user to figure them out.
And once again, we have Silicon Valley and the Internet culture it has spawned to thank for many of the new words:
As is usually the case, the spheres of science and technology have proved fruitful sources of new vocabulary, including , ,, , , , , , ,, , and .
You might be familiar with the noun being used of a large and relatively heavy mobile phone, typically an early model with limited functionality – but have you come across the associated verb, which means to make your phone completely unable to function? So you might a phone by accidentally installing a virus or by dropping it in the bath. An equally grave mistake is to be unaware of a , which is a microphone that broadcasts a spoken remark that was intended to be private; a famous example was made in 2009 when . Before the era of social media, this sort of faux pas would not, of course, have been so public. Speaking of social media, the noun is a post on Twitter that mocks or criticizes someone without directly mentioning them (here is an abbreviation of ). For instance, a tweet might refer to a reality show contestant we both know without including their handle or name.
A number of the new words more challenging to the novice (side-eye?), causing the un-hip among us to have to turn to, well, to the dictionary for help.
Side-eye: (usually ) , chiefly A sidelong glance expressing disapproval or contempt:
But many are words we ve all actually been using ourselves over the past few months, calmly picking them up from the street, trying them out on our friends, and then quickly inserting them into our own personal vocabulary to add to our own self-perceived hipness, sometimes to the chagrin of young people who deeply believe that grown adults have absolutely no business lobbing around words like cray (for crazy) or douchebaggery (for obnoxious behavior).
Stick to binge-watching if you like, they seem to suggest with the roll of their eyes. But back away from amazeballs and WDYT (for what do you think? ) because it s just not working.
Enjoy this smorgasbord of new words. But please use them responsibly:
Credit: blog.OxfordDictionaries.com
