New Words in the Oxford English Dictionary
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The Oxford English Dictionary now includes 500 new words. Twerking is getting publicity: attributed to Miley Cirus, the word has origins dating back to 1820, a blend of twist and jerk.
Several additions are new slang words, such as bae and lamestream, while others reflect social media activities, such as selfie stick, troll, and Twitterati. Lamestream is new to me-a blend of lame and mainstream (like TV, I guess).
Portuguese and Arabic dictionaries got more than 900 new entries. What a decision process this must be!
Discussion Starters:
- Read the recent updates from Oxford. Do you know all of the terms? Are they good choices to include?
- What criteria do you think are used to determine whether a word makes it into the dictionary?
- How do you decide whether to use a new word in business? What about the purpose, audience, culture, and so on would help you use words appropriately yet not fall behind?
