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Sexting, Retweet and Cyberbullying Added to Dictionary

- By - Source : The Daily Mirror

Sexting, Retweet and Cyberbullying now appear in the pages of the Oxford English Dictionary.

It seems the internet and social media are responsible for new words all the time. Earlier this year, the Oxford English Dictionary's inclusion of the "new words" 'OMG,' 'LOL,' 'FYI' and, my favorite, '♥,' made headlines around the world. Now, the world-renowned dictionary is adding a few more phrases to its pages that the tech-savvy might recognize.

The Oxford English Dictionary updates its pages four times a year, and according to the Daily Mirror, the latest update will include 'retweet,' 'cyberbullying,' 'sexting,' 'mankini,' and 'jeggings.'

The Telegraph cites Oxford English Dictionary Editor Angus Stevenson as saying the new words were chosen the same way new words always have been:

"There's no official panel of cabinet ministers for new words or anything like that," he told Channel 4 News, explaining that they gather as much evidence as possible that the word is widely used and not going to disappear anytime soon.

While some may find the addition of 'OMG,' 'LOL' or 'retweet' to the dictionary irksome, it's important to remember that a dictionary is only as useful as it is up-to-date. You may not use (or even like) the aforementioned terms, but they are commonly used and, as such, it's important that definitions for those words exist.

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Archean 08/19/2011 4:47 PM
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Not a bad move at least it will help those who still live in the last century to know where the linguistics are heading too ;p

bustapr 08/19/2011 4:50 PM
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lol you forgot WOOT!

scook9 08/19/2011 4:51 PM
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Scrabble here I come!

cognoscentiable 08/19/2011 4:52 PM
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New words are always a good thing but isn't cyber bullying a phrase? It's two words, surely? Cyber bullying?

Archean 08/19/2011 5:09 PM
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It appears they refused to accept the existence of ' space ' between cyber and bullying.

On a more serious note, I have seen it written as Cyber-Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Cyber Bulling.

jtt283 08/19/2011 5:15 PM
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"Sexting" is not a word, it's slackers' shorthand. "Retweet" is what a small child hollers while playing Army. I also agree that cyber bullying is more a phrase; perhaps it can be hyphenated: cyber-bullying.

DSpider 08/19/2011 5:16 PM
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Sure, but " ♥ " isn't a word, it's a symbol. You can't type it in. For that you'd have to use a desktop OS and hit (and remember) a multitude of keystroke combinations, which most mobile terminals don't even have.

And why would you need a definition for a fricken heart? If I type .i. or (_._) or some other single line ASCII, they have to add it, right?

__@" ————— snail

> —————— fish

/ / / \ oo / \ \ \ —— spider

=^..^= ————— kitty cat

DSpider 08/19/2011 5:23 PM
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Pff. Tom's thinks I'm trying to add HTML code and cuts me off when I open a bracket.

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O-/-

amk-aka-phantom 08/19/2011 5:29 PM
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Cyber bullying is a BS concept... if you're "intimidated" by the internets, you need help.

How do you make that heart symbol, anyway (aside from copy-paste)? =)

dread_cthulhu 08/19/2011 5:47 PM
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amk-aka-phantom :
Cyber bullying is a BS concept... if you're "intimidated" by the internets, you need help.How do you make that heart symbol, anyway (aside from copy-paste)? =)



Agreed... This is the cure for cyberbullying: "Screw you guys, I'm goin home!" *Powers computer down*. /sarcasm Silly children, internet trolls are not real people, they're all robots... why would you let yourself be bullied by a machine? /endsarcasm. People are dumb... I've never let anyone on the internet bother me, I just either block them from contacting me after the first irritation, or ignore them, and they go away. Words are just words...

officeguy 08/19/2011 6:33 PM
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Great, more words in the English Dict. I still dont know 3/4 of them.

kingnoobe 08/19/2011 6:41 PM
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@Jtt.. obviously sexting is a word now.

I agree with the heart though.. It's a symbol.. Maybe have it under a few definitions, but it shouldn't have one of it's own and called a word.

geossj5 08/19/2011 7:05 PM
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wow oxford dictionary now has as much credibility as urbandictionary

cognoscentiable 08/19/2011 7:14 PM
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I definatly agree as well.. they're just symbols and "OMG" etc are just abbreviations. I think I'll hang on to my older version of dictionary for now.

gm0n3y 08/19/2011 7:59 PM
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I don't think they should have included retweet as a word. Words that apply specifically to one company should have a much higher requirements to be included than other words.

Also I've never heard someone use the word 'mankini' and that's just a made up portmanteau; People should be able to figure out what it means. And I don't even know what 'jeggings' are, I guess I can look them up in the OED now.

flaminggerbil 08/19/2011 11:24 PM
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Thus the English language turns to shit.

doorspawn 08/20/2011 6:18 PM
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I vote we deliberately think up some words to fill the most important holes in English.

1. Gender neutral he/she and his/her. Ze? Hir?
2. A second-person group. Yous? Y'all?
3. Strictly inclusive and strictly exclusive or.
4. Another 10 or 20 expletives :)

eddieroolz 08/21/2011 8:34 PM
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Nah, I don't like the inclusion but it's gotta stay updated, right?

Zingam 08/25/2011 6:01 AM
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doorspawn :
I vote we deliberately think up some words to fill the most important holes in English.1. Gender neutral he/she and his/her. Ze? Hir?2. A second-person group. Yous? Y'all?3. Strictly inclusive and strictly exclusive or.4. Another 10 or 20 expletives



Just use "it" for everything! And instead of races: use "bitch".