Sunday, November 4, 2018

176 OED Update


The OED - An Update

Keeping up with words is both instructive and fun. A good way to check on what new words are acceptable and not just current slang is whether that word has been entered into the Oxford English Dictionary, fondly called the OED. 



A little background shows us why the OED, published by the Oxford University Press, is the authority--yes, the definitive--dictionary of all dictionaries.
Work began on the first OED in 1857 and was published in 1894 in unbound installments.  You will chuckle at the original title, I think: A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by the Philological Society. In 1895, the words “Oxford English Dictionary “were first printed on the covers of the series. The OED was finally published as a 10-volume bound set in 1928. 

An updated version, OED3, was begun in 2000 and is still in preparation--with a completion date of 2037! A spokesperson for Oxford University Press says this version probably will not be printed but in electronic form only.
There are 59 million words in the 2nd edition along with 2.4 million quotations and etymologies running 21,737 pages. Some of our most used words like “run” and “make” have the longest entries because of the many different uses and senses of these words. Available are also reduced size OED editions which come in a slipcase with a magnifying glass. And that magnifying glass is a must.

So that I stay legitimate (and legal), the above history was gleaned from an article in The Guardian, February 2018, entitled “Inside the OED: Can the World’s Biggest Dictionary Survive the Internet?” by Andrew Dickson as well as from the overview paragraph of the OED on Wikipedia.

From www. Longreads.com, I found the explanation of how new words are chosen for the updates of the OED: in order to be entered into the OED, a word or definition must satisfy certain evidentiary requirements. For example, there must be widespread evidence in a variety of sources, attested over a significant period of time. The OED is a historical dictionary which aims to cover the full thousand-year history of English, so it tends to wait a bit before adding neologisms, to ensure that they have staying power.

The following is a list of a VERY, VERY few of the 1400 new entries considered for 2018. Many of the other words are new uses of words already in the OED. Some words, however, are really new! At least, they were new to me.

Nothingburger – a person or thing of no importance

Idiocracy – a society governed by people characterized as idiots (I like this!)

Asshat – an addition to “ass” meaning one of obnoxious behavior

Fam – a shortened version of family but also meaning close friends and fellow members of a particular group

Belly bump – an addition to pregnancy slang but with the meaning a fast, downhill ride on a sled

Dump cake – a simple cake made by dumping all the ingredients together at one time; thought now to be a variation on “dumb cake” when women cooked together without speaking

Preppers – people who prepare for something be it a catastrophe or a party

Bonified – a now acceptable version of bona fide (huh?)

Updation – the nominalization of updating

Bongga – from the Philippine Tagalog language which has moved into other language families – meaning impressive or generally excellent

[List from Katherine Connor Martin, Head of Dictionaries, US at www.public.oed.com]

AND, surprisingly – D’OH – from Homer Simpson made the OED in 2001!

Well, Readers, have you any words that you think OED should consider? You can send them to the many OED editors for consideration. I think I am most shocked/surprised/amazed/ amused that “bonified” is now a real OED word. Thoughts?

Savvy (?) Glenne        


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