Oxford English Dictionary

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Another Word of the Year Has Been Chosen
Oxford Picks Its
Word of the Year
Dec 4, 2023 1:00 AM CST

Oxford Picks Its Word of the Year

'Rizz'

(Newser) - Another word of the year has been chosen, and, bucking the trend for 2023, this one has nothing to do with artificial intelligence. Oxford University Press chose "rizz," which, as the BBC reports, is slang that the youngsters these days use to mean charm, style, or romantic appeal,...

Oxford Dictionary Picks Its Word of the Year
Oxford Dictionary Picks
Its Word of the Year
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 10, 2022 6:00 AM CST

Oxford Dictionary Picks Its Word of the Year

2022 was the time to go 'goblin mode'

(Newser) - The prestigious Oxford English Dictionary put this year's selection of its word of the year in the hands of voters for the first time, and it wasn't a close fight. "Goblin mode" won in a landslide, reports the BBC . For those unfamiliar, the dictionary defines the term...

'Pawternity Leave' Among Dictionary.com's New Words

Dictionary.com added nearly twice as many new words as Merriam-Webster in 2022

(Newser) - It’s new-word season in the dictionary world. First, as every dictionary editor likes to point out, dictionaries do not invent words, they merely document them. As staffers at Dictionary.com put it, "a word doesn’t become a 'real word' when we add it to the dictionary...

Oxford's Word of the Year Is an 'Attention-Grabbing' One

'No word better captures the atmosphere of the past year than vax'

(Newser) - If you never want to hear anything about the pandemic ever again, there's one word you'll have to endure for at least another 15 minutes as it enjoys another moment in the sun. Oxford Languages has deemed "vax" its word of the year, with senior editor Fiona...

Oxford English Dictionary Adds 26 Korean Words

They include a term for the world's growing interest in South Korean culture

(Newser) - The Korean wave has swept over the Oxford English Dictionary, which included more than two dozen new entries for words of Korean origin in its latest edition. The dictionary, which describes itself as the "definitive record of the English language," says the growing global popularity of Korean culture...

2020 'Left Us Speechless.' The Word of the Year Reflects That

Oxford simply couldn't pick just one

(Newser) - In 2019, Oxford Languages' word (or term, rather) of the year was "climate emergency." In 2020, however, the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary ran into a conundrum : It soon realized that this year has been like no other, and one that simply couldn't be summed up...

Dictionary Changes Its Definition of 'Woman'

But Oxford Dictionaries clings to the notion that the 'b-word' means 'woman'

(Newser) - Oxford University Press has amended its dictionaries after a pressure campaign alleged "derogatory" and "sexist" definitions of the word "woman," the Guardian reports. Among the changes to Oxford Dictionaries: A woman is now listed as "a person's wife, girlfriend, or female lover" instead of...

Oxford Reveals Word of the Year
Oxford Reveals
Word of the Year
Nov 15, 2018 1:10 PM CST

Oxford Reveals Word of the Year

It's "toxic"

(Newser) - Oxford Dictionaries has revealed 2018's Word of the Year, and it's not an uplifting one: "toxic." Oxford says it found a 45% increase in searches for that word on oxforddictionaries.com, and also explained that the word is increasingly being used both literally and figuratively. NPR...

Oxford Dictionary Boasts a New Final Word

'Zyzzyva' has been added, as have 'post-truth,' 'unclick,' and a word describing sperm

(Newser) - And you thought "covfefe" was hard to pronounce. The Oxford English Dictionary has added more than 1,200 new "words, phrases, and senses" to its tome, per a blog post , and among them is an entry that nabs the spot as the last word in the book. "...

Donald Trump Inspired This Word of the Year

'Post-truth' gets the nod from Oxford Dictionaries

(Newser) - Oxford Dictionaries has taken inspiration from the US election in choosing its 2016 word of the year: "post-truth." How does "post-truth" relate to Donald Trump? Well, Oxford's own definition of the adjective—use of which spiked 2,000% this year, especially when Trump won the Republican...

Oxford English Dictionary Quietly Adds Tamil Slang 'Aiyo'

'The OED has admitted a rare word of power into its pages'

(Newser) - In the latest quarterly update of the Oxford English Dictionary, there was great rejoicing when, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Roald Dahl's birth, words such as "splendiferous" and "human bean" joined the great heap of our language's modern lexicon. More quietly, the Tamil slang...

Here Are the Latest Additions to Oxford English Dictionary

'Yolo' made the cut

(Newser) - The latest slang to be added to the Oxford English Dictionary: "yolo," which, as all the youngsters know, stands for "you only live once." The new crop of more than 1,000 words and terms added to the OED also includes "gender-fluid," "yogalates"...

The 'Word of the Year' Isn't a Word

But it does mean something very expressive

(Newser) - At least it's not an ancient Egyptian pictogram. While this year's Oxford Dictionaries word of the year is not an actual word, it is a popular image: the "face with tears of joy" emoji, Newsweek reports. "You can see how traditional alphabet scripts have been struggling...

At Oxford Dictionary, It's Now 'Wine O'Clock'

'Manspreading,' 'butt-dial' also new additions to Oxford's online dictionary

(Newser) - Manspreading is so widespread it's now a word. The term, coined by commuters, refers to men on public transportation who splay their legs wide and encroach on neighboring seats—and it's now been added to OxfordDictionaries.com . The free online dictionary of current usage, created by the publishers...

Now in Oxford Dictionaries: 'Amazeballs,' 'YOLO,' 'Cray'

Oxford Dictionaries, which focuses on current English, adds words this week

(Newser) - Bro, ICYMI, you should totally live-tweet this hyperconnected hot mess of a listicle. It's cray amazeballs. It's so adorbs I want to do an air punch. Don't have any idea what any of this means? Check out the latest edition of Oxford Dictionaries, which—unlike its more...

2013 Word of the Year: Selfie
 2013 Word of the Year: Selfie 
Nov 19, 2013 7:14 AM CST

2013 Word of the Year: Selfie

Miley Cyrus and her twerking weren't enough for Oxford Dictionaries

(Newser) - What do the first daughters, Pope Francis, and countless celebs have in common? They all made headlines with selfies in 2013, making it easy for Oxford Dictionaries to choose its annual word of the year . "Selfie" was a rare unanimous decision for the organization, it reports on its blog...

Thanks, Miley: 'Twerking' Now in Dictionary

Derp, derp, derp, vom.

(Newser) - It seems Miley Cyrus is dominating our conversations in more ways than one. Among words added this quarter to the Oxford Dictionaries Online is "twerking" —the ass-shaking dance move that had everyone talking about Miley after this week's MTV VMAs . Though the word has been around for...

New Dictionary Definition Is Just Insane ... 'Literally'

Oxford added new meaning because people mis-use the word

(Newser) - A recent change to the Oxford English Dictionary must have pedants ripping their hair out ... literally. It went unnoticed, but the OED added an additional meaning to the word "literally" two years ago because people use the word for exaggerated effect, the Daily Mail reports. "Our job is...

Oxford Dictionary May Tweak Definition of Marriage

Press says usage 'is shifting'

(Newser) - Conservatives have been warning for years that gay couples were trying to "redefine" marriage—and now they may literally have. The Oxford English Dictionary has announced that it will be reviewing its definition of marriage, which currently refers to "a formal union of a man and a woman,...

Oxford Dictionary's Word of 2012: GIF

File format beats 'YOLO,' 'superstorm'

(Newser) - The GIF file type for simple animations has been around since the '80s but only now has the Oxford Dictionary decided to make it its American word of the year. GIF—which stands for "graphic interchange format"—"celebrated a lexical milestone in 2012, gaining traction as...

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