New English Language Words Hot Off the Press!

Oxford University Press announced the latest updates to the Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO) on August 28, 2013.  This online dictionary is Oxford University Press’s innovative free dictionary and language reference service. Besides the comprehensive current English dictionary, there is an updated bilingual dictionary in several languages: French, German, Italian and Spanish. As noted in a previous blog, this site is updated quarterly with new words. Some of these new words are described below. Maybe you have heard any number of them in conversational speech, or perhaps you will be the first of your friends to use these words at home, or with your friends and colleagues.

‍apols, plural noun: informal for apologies I send my apols to you for not calling about going to the movies on Friday.

‍A/W, an abbreviation: autumn/winter; used when relating fashion designed for both seasons of that year I wanted to buy that A/W wool sweater so I can wear it camping this fall

babymoon, noun: a relaxing or romantic holiday taken by parents-to-be before their baby is born; a period of time following the birth of a baby during which the new parents focus on establishing a bond with their child My husband and I rented a cabin over the weekend for a babymoon.

‍balayage, noun: a technique for highlighting hair in which dye is painted on in such a way to create a graduated, natural-looking effect I finally decided to ask the hairdresser for a balayage because I was so sick of wearing my hair the same way for years.

‍blondie, noun: small square of pale-colored cake (typically butterscotch or vanilla flavor I asked the waitress for more coffee and a blondie for dessert. It was so good, I asked for another.

‍buzzworthy, adjective: informal for likely to arouse the interest of the public through word of mouth or by media coverage The increase in student aid was certainly buzzworthy on college campuses.

‍BYOD, noun: an abbreviation for bring your own device (i.e. computer, smartphone, etc. usually for work purposes) My boss sends out memos that include BYOD for working meetings so you better make sure you read the memos carefully.

‍cake pop, noun: a rounded piece of cake that is often frosted and fixed on the end of a stick to look like a lollipop When the children were home from school, I treated them to cake pops that they could decorate themselves with all sorts of frostings, chocolate and sprinkles.

‍chandelier earring, noun: a long, intricately designed dangling earring usually with tiers of stones or beads I thought those white  diamond chandelier earrings would look nice with the wedding dress.

‍click and collect, noun: a place to shop where a customer can buy or order goods from a website and collect them from a local branch store I needed to decorate the new cottage and ordered all of the furniture and other furnishings online to save time with click and collect from TJMaxx.

‍dappy, adjective: informal for disorganized and silly; lacking concentration The students seemed quite dappy the day after Homecoming Weekend; they must have stayed out really late and not gotten much sleep.‍

derp, exclamation and noun: informal for meaningless and stupid “You derp!” I found myself saying when I accidentally threw away my paycheck and had to ask my boss to reissue it.

‍digital detox, noun: a time period devoid of electronic devices to reduce stress and focus on friends, etc. Perhaps we all need a little digital detox now and then so we are not so consumed with electronic gadgets and we can enjoy recreation, reading or listening to music, and our friends.

‍double denim, noun: a style of dress that incorporates two items of denim like a jacket and jeans or a shirt and skirt Instead of wearing double denim, it might look better to add a few other colors and fabrics to your daily wardrobe.

‍emoji, noun: a small digital image or icon to express and idea or emotion in electronic communication  I finally downloaded an emoji to my website that features my literature products. It is a picture of a group of children reading a book.

‍fauxhawk, noun: a hairstyle in which a section of hair stands erect and runs from the front to the back of the hair that looks like a Mohican haircut with the sides of the hair shaved  OK, my daughter finally did it…she got a fauxhawk even though I told her not to.

‍FIL, noun: a person’s father-in-law We all enjoyed the time spent with my FIL when he came to visit for the holidays.

‍flatform, noun: a flat shoe with a high, thick sole  Perhaps I will wear my flatforms when I go dancing this weekend. After all, they are quite comfortable and they make me look slightly taller.‍

FOMO, noun: fear of missing out on something often triggered by posts seen on social media sites  To me, it is hard to believe that there are people who develop FOMO and seemingly need to always be on Facebook.

‍food baby, noun: having a protruding stomach from eating a large quantity of food  I wanted to get rid of my food baby and I decided to increase my daily running mileage in hopes that would help.

‍geek chic, noun: stylish and fashionable dress, appearance and culture associated with computing and technology enthusiasts There were many geek chics at the first floor company restaurant.

‍girl crush, noun: informal expression for typically non-sexual liking or admiration felt by female for another  The movie star looked beautiful and I couldn’t help but have a girl crush on her.

‍grats, noun: informal for congratulations  His brother called and offered grats on getting the new job at the bank.‍

guac, noun: guacamole Her favorite thing to eat was guac and those wheat chips for a snack.

‍hackerspace, noun: a place in which people gather to work on computer and technology projects and share ideas, equipment and knowledge The kids were going to meet at the hackerspace in the back area of the coffee shop to work on the civic project.

‍Internet of Things (IoT), noun: a proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity allowing them to send and receive data  The "Internet of Things" (IoT) may sound like something only capable of happening in the future, but there are already talking refrigerators and self-staring cars that are time savers.

‍jorts, noun:  denim shorts  The golfer always wore the same  white jorts in all of the championship matches. Maybe they were good luck.

‍LDR, noun:  a long-distance relationship My fiancé and I were both pleased that our LDR was working out so well for the past 3 months, despite how difficult it seemed at times.

‍me time, noun:  informal for time spent relaxing by oneself usually to reduce stress or restore energy Finally, I was able to find some me time and take a long bath and read the morning paper after getting the kids off to school and typing that paper for my husband.

‍MOOC, noun: a course of study via the Internet without charge to any number of people I was able to find a MOOC on Nutrition and another one on English language learning.

omnishambles, noun: informal for a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged with many mistakes, etc. coming first used in the British satirical television series (The Thick of It)

Anyone with a calculator and a few minutes of time would be able to prevent the ominishables by checking the accountant’s monthly report.

pear cider, noun: an alcoholic drink made from the juice of fermented pears The winery was selling pear cider during the summer months.

‍phablet, noun: a smartphone having a medium-sized screen between the size of a typical smartphone and a tablet computer  My mother uses a phablet and she finds it very convenient and affordable.

‍pixie cut, noun: a short hairstyle for women that is cropped in layers The twins got matching pixie cuts right before the heat of the summer.

‍selfie, noun: informal for a photograph that you have taken of yourself usually with a smartphone or webcam and it is uploaded to a social media website The new football coach posted a selfie Facebook  so the high school students would all know who he was.

‍space tourism, noun: traveling into space for recreations purposes Perhaps space tourism will really take off in the future, although I am convinced it will be very costly.

‍squee, exclamation, verb, noun: informal for expressing great delight and excitement “Squee!”shouted the children when they opened their Christmas presents from Santa.

‍srsly, adverb:  informal for seriously Srsly, the teacher wanted us to read 10 books this semester in the Economics class.

‍street food, noun: prepared sold by vendors in the street or other outside location for immediate enjoyment  At noon on Fridays, there is the best street food served on Main Street, across from the park. You’ll have to try it sometime.

‍TL DR, abbreviation: too long didn’t read used as a response to a lengthy post I have not seen TL DR on any of my post responses, yet :)

‍twerk, verb: a way of dancing to popular music involving thrusting hip movements as you squat The video surfaced of the kids twerking at the school dance amidst the frowns of the faculty.

‍unlike, verb: to withdraw a liking or approval of a web page or posting on a social media website that you initially liked I suppose it does happen that someone “unlikes” something on the Internet, but I wonder why they chose to “like” it in the first place.

‍vom, verb and noun: informal for being sick or vomit  My dog’s vom was on the rug by the patio door this morning and I hope she is not sick any more today.

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‍Just like many of you, I am keeping my ears wide open for any of these new words in the English language. Srsly. And, I’m curious to know if you’ve heard any of them yet or if you have a story to share about any other English language word or expression. Please write to me in the comments below.  Oh, I almost forgot, I want to offer grats on your continued English language learning. I know it takes a lot of time and commitment, and you might not see the progress you want right away. But, believe me, the rewards of learning English will come. If you haven’t noticed that already, you’ll see. Srsly.