Advertisement

ICYMI, the Oxford English Dictionary added new words, and TBH, it’s getting wacky

Share via

FWIW, the Oxford English Dictionary recently added hundreds of new words to its vaunted pages, and some of them — like “budgie smugglers,” “butt ugly” and “Scooby Snack” — will deffo have you ROFL.

The newly added words, phrases and abbreviations reflect the growing influence of texting and cyberspeak on the English language, with many entries that come from the Internet. And a large number of the new entries have their roots in American, British and Australian slang.

TL;DR: An influential dictionary added a bunch of crazy new words. Here are 15 of them, along with their official definitions:

Advertisement
  1. air punch (noun): an act of thrusting one’s clenched fist into the air, typically as a gesture of elation or triumph
  2. budgie smugglers (noun): men’s brief, tight-fitting swimming trunks
  3. butt ugly (adjective): extremely unattractive
  4. deffo (adverb): definitely, certainly
  5. folktronica (noun): style of popular music incorporating elements of folk and electronic music
  6. FWIW (abbreviation): for what it’s worth
  7. glamping (noun): a form of camping involving accommodation and facilities more luxurious than those associated with traditional camping
  8. hockey mom (noun): a mother who devotes a great deal of time and effort to supporting her children’s participation in ice hockey.
  9. ICYMI (abbreviation): in case you missed it (used in electronic communication to draw attention to something noteworthy)
  10. ROFL (abbreviation): rolling on the floor laughing (used to convey great amusement)
  11. Scooby Snack (noun): a snack, especially given as a reward or inducement; specifically a bite-sized treat or a large multilayered sandwich. Also: food eaten to satisfy a hunger induced by drinking,smoking, or drug use.
  12. starter marriage (noun): a short-lived first marriage between young adults, viewed as a form of preparation for a subsequent, more lasting one with different partners
  13. TBH (abbreviation): to be honest
  14. TL;DR (abbreviation): used as a dismissive response to a lengthy online post, or to introduce a summary of a lengthy post. (It stands for “too long; didn’t read.
  15. listicle,” defined as “a piece of writing or other content presented wholly or partly in the form of a list.”

Not all the newly added words are as quirky as the ones above. Some, like “Afrofuturism” and “Hitchcockian,” have their roots in the arts; others, like “agender,” reflect changing attitudes about gender and identity in society.

Advertisement