In its continued effort to stay relevant in the the ongoing journey of the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary has provided us with its annual “Addition of New Words That Will Make You Wonder If Language Itself Is Evolving or Becoming Increasingly Ridiculous.” Usually, they are combinations of existing words that have permeated popular culture to such an extent that they need to be made “official” (for some reason), whether they deserve it or not.
As technology advances and new ways to communicate are being discovered and incorporated into everyday life, people have come up with new slang terms to describe what they’re doing. Usually that involves turning a noun into a verb — which is, naturally, called verbing. “Texting” is one such word, as is “Tweeting.” And now, “retweet” is a new verb, and so is “sexting.” Another tech-related new word that was popularized in the media is “cyberbullying.”
And then there are words that were odd hybrids of existing things that became so popular — whether we wanted them to or not — that they required legitimization. “Mankini,” which is, I guess, a man’s bikini. Other links are showing picture of Borat in his banana hammock, which I declined to do, mostly because I just always called that thing a banana hammock.
Also added: “jeggings,” the form-fitting jean-like pants which used to be called “stretch jeans” back when I was wearing them the first time they were popular in the early 1990s. But people were evidently clamoring for a more obnoxious and efficient term such as “jeggings.” Sorry, but those are and always will be stretch jeans. (But I am thankful for the pockets and zipper flies that have been added since. Man, those things totally make you feel like an action hero when you wear them with boots.)
And I guess this means that none of those words need to be put in quotes anymore, now that they’re officially part of our vocabulary. So, welcome sexting, retweeting, cyberbullying, mankini, and jeggings!
Published: Aug 18, 2011 11:00 am