‘Twerk’, ‘fo’shizzle’, ‘FOMO’ and ‘half-ass’ among the new words added to the Oxford English Dictionary
HUNDREDS of new words have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary — and it seems some of the slang words you use are much older than you think.
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THE Oxford English Dictionary has just dropped hundreds of new words onto its hallowed pages, from half-ass to fo’shizzle — and some terms have been revealed to be much older than you thought.
Twerk, one of the 500 new additions in the quarterly update, thrust its way into the popular lexicon in 2013, thanks largely to Miley Cyrus and a certain foam finger.
The term as added to the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED in 2013, but remained out of the paper edition until now.
But OED editors have traced the word back to 1820, when “twirk” was defined as a twisting or jerking movement. They said the word was likely to have been a blend of twist, twitch and jerk, and eventually found its current spelling.
Its use as a word to describe a dance form was rooted in the 1990s New Orleans music scene, OED senior editor Fiona McPherson said.
Hot mess has also landed in the dictionary, and its meaning has morphed over the centuries as well.
In the 1800s, “hot mess” referred to a warm meal, especially those served to troops. In the 1900s, it was used to denote a difficult or uncomfortable situation. Now, a hot mess is “a person or thing that is spectacularly unsuccessful or disordered”, according to the folks at the OED.
US First Lady Michelle Obama popularised FLOTUS — the acronym for First Lady of the United States — but the term was first used in relation to Nancy Reagan back in 1983.
Other new entries, announced today, include twitterati (prominent Twitter users), e-cigarette (quit-smoking aide), FOMO (fear of missing out), on-trend (very fashionable), auto-tune (correcting out-of-tune vocals), photobomb (to jump into someone’s photo), jeggings (stretchy pants) and uber (an outstanding or supreme example of something).
Australian slang got a look-in with bush tucker, which has been defined as “food, typically uncooked, from plants and animals atuve to the Australian outback”.
New entries must have been in use in both news stories and fiction for at least 10 years to be included in the OED.
Here are some of the more notable additions, along with their official definitions.
Meh: expressing a lack of interest or enthusiasm.
Fo’ shizzle: in the language of rap and hip-hop, this means “for sure”.
Half-ass: to perform poorly or incompetently; to do (something) in a desultory or half-hearted manner.
Cisgender: denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity conforms with the gender that corresponds to their biological sex; not transgender.
FLOTUS: the First Lady of the United States.
Masshole: term of contempt for a native or inhabitant of the US state of Massachusetts.
Sext: a sexually explicit or suggestive message or image sent electronically, typically using a mobile phone.
Twerk: To dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner, using thrusting movements of the bottom and hips while in a low, squatting stance.
Crowdfund: fund (a project or venture) by raising money from a large number of people who each contribute a relatively small amount, typically via the internet.
Cake pop: a small, round piece of cake coated with icing or chocolate and fixed on the end of a stick so as to resemble a lollipop.
Handsy: tending to touch other people, typically in a way that is inappropriate or unwanted.
Originally published as ‘Twerk’, ‘fo’shizzle’, ‘FOMO’ and ‘half-ass’ among the new words added to the Oxford English Dictionary