Saturday, 26 February 2011

Oxford Dictionary Adds 'Bloggable,' 'Sexting,' and More

Bloggable neologisms like "tbh" and "sexting" have apparently cyberbullied their way into an Oxford dictionary.


The Oxford Dictionary Online - the modern language counterpart to the traditional Oxford English Dictionary - has added Web 2.0 jargon such as "bloggable," "cyberbullying," "sexting," "tbh" ("to be honest"),"clickjacking," "scareware," "trackpad," and "fnarr fnarr" to its collection. Typical PCMag vocabulary.

But wait- fnarr fnarr? We had to look this one up. According to its OD entry, fnarr fnarr (pronounced fna fna) is British texting slang for sniggering, usually at a sexual innuendo.

Oxford provides the example: "That's some package! (Said the bishop to the actress, fnarr fnarr)." In America, we'd probably say something like, "That's some package! (That's what she said, LOL)."
Spokeswoman Gabby Fletcher told the The Telegraph, "The rapid development of technology creates multiple new products, services, and functionalities, which all need new terms to describe them. We are also seeing the very fast circulation of new vocabulary on a global basis, with the expansion of social media."
Updated quarterly, the Oxford Dictionary Online features a growing number of tech terms. In August it added "tweetup" (a meeting arranged through Twitter), microblogging (posting short blog entries), and paywall (requiring payment to access online content).

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