Internet words ‘bloggable’ and ’scareware’ enter Oxford Dictionary
By ANIThursday, February 24, 2011
LONDON - A slew of new words, including ‘bloggable’ and ’scareware’, have been added to the Oxford Dictionaries for the first time, thanks to the Internet.
Experts from Oxford Dictionaries Online said the web’s influence on the English language was increasing.
New entries include the words “scareware”, which means malicious computer programmes, “trackpad” (touchpad) and “buttload” (a large amount).
Other new words or phrases in the past nine months include “bloggable”, defined as a suitable topic for blogging, and an “onliner” (an internet user).
More commonly used Internet words,”cyberbullying” and “cybersecurity”, also appear for the first time.
The sinister practice of “clickjacking” (manipulating a user’s activity by concealing hyperlinks) is another net-based newcomer.
Oxford Dictionaries also recognised hundreds of other new words and phrases created by mobile phone texting.
These include “sexting” (sending explicit images or messages), “tbh” (to be honest), “feature phone” (a mobile phone with extra features) and “fnarr fnarr” (sniggering in textspeak).
New entries unrelated to the worlds of the internet or texting include “tanorexia” (an obsessive desire to get a tan), “jazz hands” (a gesture with hands waved to express excitement) and “trolleyed” (extremely drunk).
The new entries also include words that seem to have been present in the language for a while - including “gastric band” (a device for the surgical treatment of obesity), “rumour mill” (the process by which rumours are originated and circulated) and “light-bulb moment” (a moment of sudden realisation).
“The rapid development of technology creates multiple new products, services, and functionalities, which all need new terms to describe them,” the Telegraph quoted Gabby Fletcher, a spokeswoman for Oxford Dictionaries Online, as saying.
“We are also seeing the very fast circulation of new vocabulary on a global basis, with the expansion of social media,” the spokeswoman added. (ANI)
