According to the Oxford Dictionary Online, you are more or less using proper English when you proclaim that your unfavorable situation is “ridic.” Yes, “ridic” is one of the newest additions to the Oxford Dictionary Online, known as ODO, a laid-back offshoot of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). ODO is comprised of OED’s collection of words as well as the more heavily used jargon of casual conversation today. Think of it as Urban Dictionary’s more scholarly and less crass cousin.
Besides “ridic”, what other words have been entered into the online dictionary’s official register?
It’s worth reiterating – “ridic” made it into the Oxford. What a ridictionary.
ridic, adj.: ridiculous (abbrev.).
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a word and sprinted to the nearest dictionary to find the meaning and BAM! No such word exists in the English language. But, of course, it will have about 5 multiple definitions on UrbanDictionary.com, my go-to website for learning new slang that I’m too embarrassed to ask, thus admitting I’m not privy to the modern speak.
Now that ODO is including more casual words to its lexicon, it is being both applauded as a thoroughly comprehensive dictionary and objected as a betrayal to the proper English language. Either way, we can’t help but giggle that “vajazzle” also made the cut. Right now, I’m fairly sure that Jennifer Love Hewitt, or as I’ve called her for years, JLoHew, is celebrating the word’s accolade by vajazzling for the hell of it.
Including “vajazzle”, here are more words added to the ODO this year worth noting:
-douche, n. [new sense]: an obnoxious or contemptible person. Also douchey, adj.
-group hug, n.: a number of people gathering together to hug each other, typically to provide support or express solidarity.
-lifecasting, n.: the practice of broadcasting a continuous live flow of video material on the Internet which documents one’s day-to-day activities.
-lolz, pl. n.: fun, laughter, or amusement.
-mwahahaha, exclamation: used to represent laughter, esp. manic or cackling laughter such as that uttered by a villainous character in a cartoon or comic strip.
-photobomb, v.: spoil a photograph of (a person or thing) by suddenly appearing in the camera’s field of view as the picture is taken, typically as a prank or practical joke (n.: photobombing).
-tweeps, pl. n.: a person’s followers on the social networking site Twitter.
-Wikipedian, n.: a person who contributes to the collaboratively written online encyclopedia Wikipedia, esp. on a regular basis.
-vajazzle, v.: adorn the pubic area (of a woman) with crystals, glitter, or other decoration.
I hope this means I can finally type “photobomb” without the misspelled alert of red, squiggly lines, because I type that word all day, every day. LOLZ.
Find the rest of the newly added words at Oxford Dictionary Online’s blog.
What do you think of these additions? Do you feel as though some words deserve to be added or are some just insults to the English language?
guest
Webster’s and Oxford dictionaries have always added and removed words from the dictionary. The English language evolves and dictionaries reflect that evolution. It is interesting to go back and look at how word usage, slang and non-slang, change over time especially when you look at what was happening in society. At least it is interesting to me, but I am a dork and proud.