OMG, LOL and TMI added to OED

Additions to the Oxford English Dictionary reflect digital communications

- March 25, 2011

The Oxford English Dictionary.
The Oxford English Dictionary.

IMHO, it seems weird that the OED has included OMG, LOL, BFF and TMI in its latest edition. Wassup?

(Translation: In my humble opinion, it seems weird that the Oxford English Dictionary has included such initialisms as Oh My God, Laughing Out Loud, Best Friends Forever and Too Much Information. What's going on?)

Devised as short forms for electronic communications, people have incorporated them into speech.

Other new words added to the dictionary reflects “the culinary appetites of the English-speaking world,” with entries including "kleftiko" (a Greek lamb dish) and "taquito" (Tex-Mex snack). Another food-related addition, “the ten-second rule,” allows for the eating of food that’s fallen to the floor if it’s retrieved in time.

The dictionary notes “the vocabulary of drunkenness” continues to expand, with the term “lashed” just added. Other figures of speech to make the dictionary includes “smack talk,” (boastful or insulting banter), “muffin top,” (the roll of flesh above a tight pair of pants), and “couching surfing,” (the practice of spending the night on a friend’s couch instead of finding a place to live).

Here’s the full list of words from the OED website. (LOL, “stonewashed” took awhile to show up.)

What words do you use everyday that should make it into the dictionary? Join the discussion.


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