Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO) – not to be confused with the Oxford English Dictionary – is a free online dictionary of current language and practical usage, and the latest words to gain entry read as if from a teenager’s status update.
The quarterly update to the ODO for August 2012 includes a number of terms that have recently made into common usage, and many of which have been influenced by technology and online communities.
Along with ‘lolz’, we now have ‘mwahahaha’, ‘tweeps’, ‘brah’, ‘hella’, ‘ridic’ and ‘douchey’. Words that would see everyday usage in the world of tech, like ‘hackathon’, ‘e-learning’ and ‘UX’, have also made the grade, as well as commonly used online phrases like ‘hat tip’ and ‘photobomb’.
We’ve also got some lesser-spotted terms, like ‘lifecasting’ (the practice of broadcasting a continuous live flow of video material on the internet which documents one’s day-to-day activities) and ‘ethical hacker’ (a person who hacks into a computer network in order to test or evaluate its security, rather than with malicious or criminal intent) and ‘Wikipedian’ – of which I’m sure you can guess the meaning.
Some added terms come as a surprise, being that you’d think they would have been listed before now, like ‘genius’ ‘inbox’, ‘video chat’ and the phrase to ‘vote someone/thing off the island’.
Oh and ‘vajazzle’ also made it. May god have mercy on us all.
