"Retweet" and other social-media era words added to Oxford English Dictionary
The Concise Oxford English Dictionary has announced 400 new additions to its tome, including "retweet" and "surveil," as well as "woot," which (in case you didn't know) is usually used to express happiness or excitement. The jargon that accompanies social media is responsible for making many of the new entrants commonplace enough to be deemed words by the OED.
Some of the new entries for the 12th edition of the dictionary signal that modern technology and social media have greatly impacted the English language, writes Mashable's Ben Parr. He adds that earlier this year, the Oxford English Dictionary Online added OMG, LOL and <3 to its list of official English words.
Helpful definitions for a few of the new entries, courtesy of the Daily Mirror:
Retweet: Sharing a Twitter message.
Sexting: Sending saucy texts.
Cyberbullying: Bullying online or by text.
Mankini: The revealing male bathing costume made famous by Sacha Baron Cohen in his Borat film.
Jeggings: Leggings resembling tight jeans.
In total, the latest addition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary includes 66,500 words - consumerreports.org