Life Desk :
Are you a freegan? Or do you have a serious case of FOMO? These are among 500 words being added recently to the Oxford English Dictionary, which was first published in 1911. A century on, it is one of the largest language research projects in the world. We carry some of our favourite new additions.
Voluntourism: What people do when they help out at an African orphanage, save elephants and do something ‘amazing’ for charity, when really they just need an excuse to go on another holiday.
Meh: After being subjected to endless pictures on FB posted by the above voluntourist, this is how you’ll probably feel. Used to signal lack of enthusiasm. Made popular in The Simpsons.
FOMO: Fear of missing out – triggered perhaps by seeing the voluntourist’s snaps.
Lipstick: Not something you hastily apply in a taxi but now slang for the treble 20 on a dartboard.
Freegan: Someone who eats thrown away food as they hate waste.
Ecotown: Probably full of freegans. New towns designed to have minimum impact on environment.
E-cigarette: Cig-shaped battery powered device containing nicotine.
Fo’ shizzle: ‘For sure’ is obviously just too dull for rappers like Snoop Dogg so they had to bling it up.
Fratty: American term for rowdy college fraternities.
Twitterati: People on Twitter with more followers than you’ve had hot dinners, who bung up your feeds with constant tweeting.
Webisode: Short video of a TV programme shown online.
Hyperlocal: Really, really local.
Comix: Alternative adult comic books and comic strips.
Crowdfund: To fund a project from lots of people who usually donate small sums online.
Cake pop: Small, round piece of cake coated in icing, chocolate or other decorations and fixed on a stick to make it look like a lollipop.
Go-juice: What you might call your morning cup of coffee to give you energy or fuel for cars and planes.
Pageview: Where someone visits a particular page on a website.
Uncanny valley: When things that look human, such as the Michael Jackson hologram at the Billboard Music Awards, freak us out.
SCOTUS: Acronym of The Supreme Court of the United States.
Backronym: Similar to an acronym, but where the words have been deliberately chosen to fit initials.
Bluff charge: When a large animal moves towards prey then suddenly stops without attacking.
Bush tucker: Animals or plants , usually uncooked, eaten by native Australians.
Double-dip recession: A recession followed by a brief period of growth before another period of decline.
Multi-starrer: Film with ensemble cast featuring lots of A-listers.
Skort: Shorts with a flap of material to make them appear a skirt.
Uber: Added to a word to describe it as outstanding. Become associated with the ride-sharing taxi app. Used as a noun and verb.
Yarn bomb: Street art where objects are covered in colourful knitted yarn.
Jeggings: Designed to look like jeans but have stretch in them like leggings. Unlikely to cut off circulation like skinny jeans.
Tenderprenuer: South African term for person in government who abuses power to get government contracts.
Photobomb: The term, which means to insert yourself into someone else’s photo, has only just bombed its way into the OED (Oxford English Dictionary).
Auto-tune: Device used to correct out-of-tune vocal performance.
Coasteering: Adventure sport involving scrambling rocks, jumping off cliffs and swimming in the sea.
Stagette: Canadian hen do.
Drumble: To be lazy, sluggish or mumble when speaking.
Hard arse: Someone who rigorously instills a specific set of standards.
Stanky: Used mainly in America to describe someone or something smelling unpleasant.
Buko: Slang for ‘much’. I’ve earned buko cash this week.
Diabulimia: A disturbing new eating disorder in which people with Type 1 Diabetes deliberately give themselves less insulin than they need, to help weight loss.
The Enviropig: A genetically altered pig, or ‘Frankenswine’, as critics call it, that is better at digesting phosphorus in plants.
Handsy: The term to describe someone who’s frisky and can’t keep their hands to themselves.
Hyphy: Pronounced hi-fi, it’s a term for uptempo hip-hop music originating in California and associated with a frenetic dancing.
Koozie: That thermal foam sleeve-thing you put round a can or a bottle to keep it cool, but never know what to call? Well, it’s called a koozie – although quite why, is unclear.
On-trend: Very fashionable, i.e. ‘that coat is so on-trend’.
Sh*tshow: The not very pleasant term used to describe an event or situation that is chaotic or controversial.
Sexting: Where people text sexually explicit material – surprisingly this word has only just made it into the dictionary.
– TNN
Are you a freegan? Or do you have a serious case of FOMO? These are among 500 words being added recently to the Oxford English Dictionary, which was first published in 1911. A century on, it is one of the largest language research projects in the world. We carry some of our favourite new additions.
Voluntourism: What people do when they help out at an African orphanage, save elephants and do something ‘amazing’ for charity, when really they just need an excuse to go on another holiday.
Meh: After being subjected to endless pictures on FB posted by the above voluntourist, this is how you’ll probably feel. Used to signal lack of enthusiasm. Made popular in The Simpsons.
FOMO: Fear of missing out – triggered perhaps by seeing the voluntourist’s snaps.
Lipstick: Not something you hastily apply in a taxi but now slang for the treble 20 on a dartboard.
Freegan: Someone who eats thrown away food as they hate waste.
Ecotown: Probably full of freegans. New towns designed to have minimum impact on environment.
E-cigarette: Cig-shaped battery powered device containing nicotine.
Fo’ shizzle: ‘For sure’ is obviously just too dull for rappers like Snoop Dogg so they had to bling it up.
Fratty: American term for rowdy college fraternities.
Twitterati: People on Twitter with more followers than you’ve had hot dinners, who bung up your feeds with constant tweeting.
Webisode: Short video of a TV programme shown online.
Hyperlocal: Really, really local.
Comix: Alternative adult comic books and comic strips.
Crowdfund: To fund a project from lots of people who usually donate small sums online.
Cake pop: Small, round piece of cake coated in icing, chocolate or other decorations and fixed on a stick to make it look like a lollipop.
Go-juice: What you might call your morning cup of coffee to give you energy or fuel for cars and planes.
Pageview: Where someone visits a particular page on a website.
Uncanny valley: When things that look human, such as the Michael Jackson hologram at the Billboard Music Awards, freak us out.
SCOTUS: Acronym of The Supreme Court of the United States.
Backronym: Similar to an acronym, but where the words have been deliberately chosen to fit initials.
Bluff charge: When a large animal moves towards prey then suddenly stops without attacking.
Bush tucker: Animals or plants , usually uncooked, eaten by native Australians.
Double-dip recession: A recession followed by a brief period of growth before another period of decline.
Multi-starrer: Film with ensemble cast featuring lots of A-listers.
Skort: Shorts with a flap of material to make them appear a skirt.
Uber: Added to a word to describe it as outstanding. Become associated with the ride-sharing taxi app. Used as a noun and verb.
Yarn bomb: Street art where objects are covered in colourful knitted yarn.
Jeggings: Designed to look like jeans but have stretch in them like leggings. Unlikely to cut off circulation like skinny jeans.
Tenderprenuer: South African term for person in government who abuses power to get government contracts.
Photobomb: The term, which means to insert yourself into someone else’s photo, has only just bombed its way into the OED (Oxford English Dictionary).
Auto-tune: Device used to correct out-of-tune vocal performance.
Coasteering: Adventure sport involving scrambling rocks, jumping off cliffs and swimming in the sea.
Stagette: Canadian hen do.
Drumble: To be lazy, sluggish or mumble when speaking.
Hard arse: Someone who rigorously instills a specific set of standards.
Stanky: Used mainly in America to describe someone or something smelling unpleasant.
Buko: Slang for ‘much’. I’ve earned buko cash this week.
Diabulimia: A disturbing new eating disorder in which people with Type 1 Diabetes deliberately give themselves less insulin than they need, to help weight loss.
The Enviropig: A genetically altered pig, or ‘Frankenswine’, as critics call it, that is better at digesting phosphorus in plants.
Handsy: The term to describe someone who’s frisky and can’t keep their hands to themselves.
Hyphy: Pronounced hi-fi, it’s a term for uptempo hip-hop music originating in California and associated with a frenetic dancing.
Koozie: That thermal foam sleeve-thing you put round a can or a bottle to keep it cool, but never know what to call? Well, it’s called a koozie – although quite why, is unclear.
On-trend: Very fashionable, i.e. ‘that coat is so on-trend’.
Sh*tshow: The not very pleasant term used to describe an event or situation that is chaotic or controversial.
Sexting: Where people text sexually explicit material – surprisingly this word has only just made it into the dictionary.
– TNN
