Word trends and new words
Oxford Dictionaries USA Word of the Year 2012 is ‘to GIF’
Today, OUP announced their Oxford Dictionaries US Word of the Year for 2012. Katherine Martin was one of the lexicographers on the judging panel, and here are her reflections on the shortlist. GIF verb to create a GIF file of (an image or video sequence, especially relating to an event): he GIFed the highlights of the [...]
Hip-hop’s “dead presidents”
With the 2012 election looming next week, are you sold on another four years with Obama? Perhaps you’re looking to change things up with Mitt. Which candidate will you choose to represent you? I’m out for dead presidents to represent me. Say what?! Rather than get mixed up in all that political business, I’m here [...]
Green on blue, unboxing, and brass: on the radar in September 2012
The phrase green on blue has been used with tragic frequency in recent weeks to describe attacks by Afghan soldiers on Coalition troops in Afghanistan. Green on blue is modeled after an earlier phrase, blue on blue, referring to inadvertent clashes between members of the same side in an armed conflict (also known as fratricide, or by the oxymoronic synonym friendly fire).
Feelin’ “aight”?
In the early 90s hip-hop artist Doug E. Fresh released a single called “I-Ight (Alright)”. The song wasn’t what you’d call a smash hit, but I mention it today because the editors of the OED have just put its namesake aight into the dictionary. Looking at the entry, it seems that Mr. Fresh was a bit of a lexical trail-blazer in [...]
The lexical legacy of Occupy Wall Street
Monday, September 17 marks the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests, which spawned a movement that spread from Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan to public spaces around the US, the UK, and the world. Although the Wall Street encampment was cleared out only two months later, it had already left a mark on the [...]
Java, C, and Python: the etymology of programming languages
As a software developer for most of my adult life, I have a CV that is covered in acronyms and initialisms representing technologies I have mastered. Well, to be more honest, some technologies I have mastered, others I have used a lot, and a few I’ve had brief exposure to but which look good on [...]
Why is something that is the very best known as ‘the bee’s knees’?
This curious expression is one of many similar sayings for something that is the acme of excellence. We are all familiar with the cat’s whiskers (or the cat’s pyjamas, the cat’s meow, and the cat’s nuts), which originated in the roaring 1920s and which might well have been the first of its kind—it is said [...]
Takei-tastic word-shenaniganza
The actor George Takei, hailed as a social media superstar, recently invited his fans to invent new words and submit them to him with their proposed definitions. Here at Oxford Dictionaries we’re always monitoring new words and meanings for inclusion in our dictionaries: once a word or phrase has gained enough traction, and we’ve recorded [...]
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