'Twerking' and 'Selfie' added to the new Collins English Dictionary

By Staff Reporter - 23 Oct '14 06:01AM
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The English language is constantly evolving and 50,000 words have recently been added to the latest print edition of the Collins English. New words added to reflect todays modern times include; selfie, onesie and photobomb.

It also contains the word "adorkable", which was voted in by Twitter users from a shortlist of emerging words.

The latest additions, which also include "vape," "Bitcoin",  are said to bring the total number of entries in the "Collins English Dictionary" to 722,000, reportedly making it the largest single volume dictionary in print.

The last time the "Collins English Dictionary" was last updated was three years ago. Terms like "Zumba," "Arab Spring" and "fauxmance" were among the new terms that made it into dictionary at the time.

"I think the dictionary is really showing how British culture is continuing to evolve," Elaine Higgleton, then-publishing director for Collins English Dictionaries, told The Guardian in 2011. "There's quite a lot of vocabulary about past times, around fashion, celebrities, TV, culture and popular culture, but there's also the more serious stuff, such as Arab Spring and the ongoing financial situation. It shows what the concerns of society are at the moment."

Here are some of the words added and their meaning:

al desko - (a meal, esp lunch) at one's desk at one's place of work

Bitcoin - a system of open source peer-to-peer software for the creation and exchange of (payment in) a certain type of cryptocurrency.

kawaii - a Japanese artistic and cultural style that emphasizes the quality of cuteness, using bright colours and characters with a childlike appearance

meme - an idea or element of social behaviour passed on through generations in a culture, esp by imitation

photobomb - to intrude into the background of a photograph without the subject's knowledge

preload - to consume alcoholic drinks at home before going to a social gathering

textonym - one of two or more words that can be generated by pressing the same key combinations on a mobile phone: 'kiss' and 'lips' are textonyms

twerking - a provocative dance performed by moving the hips rapidly back and forth while standing with the feet apart and raising and lowering the body in a squatting motion

vape - to inhale nicotine vapour (from an electronic cigarette). Thus vaping, and vaper (one who vapes).

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