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New Words Added to the Dictionary "Selfie," "Tweep,' "Hashtag" and More


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New words always amaze me, while there are some that are irritating, there are some really good ones. 'Selfie' seems to be the most used word now, every corner I turn I can hear someone say it. I am not so sure about being called a 'tweep', it rhymes with creep, but i guess it is better than being called a twit. LOL.

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Golly, lots of people with reactionary ideas in here! The dictionary is not a sacred text which contains words chosen from above, nor does it have to make a quality judgement when considering words to add. It's very simple: lots of people use it -> included in the dictionary. It describes how people speak, it does not prescribe it. And the only way to stop those words being included in the dictionary is to stop people from using them.

But I don't see the point in that, language is beautiful because it evolves, it's never static. Some of us may find these words ridiculous because they're new, just like our grandpas thought many of the words we use were ridiculous when they first appeared.

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  • 3 weeks later...

New words always amaze me, while there are some that are irritating, there are some really good ones. 'Selfie' seems to be the most used word now, every corner I turn I can hear someone say it. I am not so sure about being called a 'tweep', it rhymes with creep, but i guess it is better than being called a twit. LOL.

Haha. I'm not even sure what 'tweep' is but I think we can all agree tweep and creep are better than twit or twat.

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I wish we were getting better words added to English. I really don't like social media vocabulary, texting ¨words,¨ etc. In my opinion, we are getting too many of these types of words. Sometimes it feels like it is dumbing down English.

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Woah. Just like most of you guys, I also don't agree with adding these slangs to the dictionary.  When I was studying, we always relied on this dictionary because it was such a treasure --  it's formal, credible, and educational.  But with this, I'm starting to dislike it.  I just hope that in the future that won't add any more slangs in their dictionaries.  It's not a good read especially in schools.

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  • 2 months later...

Language is amazing because it keeps growing. With the advancement of technology, new words keep coming up. Yes I have been using some of the words included in the list. I am amazed at the development of language that I do not understand some of the newly invented words. It will be a good thing to have a dictionary where we can look up the meaning of these new words.

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Aside from selfie, hashtag, and crowdfunding, I think they shouldn't have considered the other ones because they sound more like fads or slang to me and I don't think they are even that much widely used. If they added it then there must be a good reason I'm not seeing though so I will trust them on this one, but I'm really skeptical about twerp and gamification. I haven't even heard or read anyone saying that ever.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I weep for the fact so many of these slang terms are going to be real grammatically correct words. At the same time, I'm very happy about the other words being introduced. I suppose you can't grow a plant without both rain and sun though.

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I guess I'm not the only one who feels that some words are slang and should remain being slang. It's happening to English with new slang words and the same thing is happening to Spanish with anglicisms. French is the only language that seems rather conservative.

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  • 2 months later...

I agree, I think selfie is here to stay.  It is a result of a few tech phenenoms that are not going to disappear anytime soon.  First is quality cameras in every cell phone.  The second is the ability to instantly upload photos via instagram.  While things like a cassette tape will become obsolete, cameras on cell phones and the internet are not going anywhere and so the concept of a selfie is going to stay.

Yes, "selfie" is getting to be not just a word but a huge pop cultural trend.  It's really getting a lot of attention in the media as celebrities and public figures group together and take selfies.  That famous selfie that Ellen DeGeneres and the celebrities took at the Oscars seemed to really skyrocket the trend.  But even people who are not famous it seems are getting more and more into taking selfies and posting them on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

I think it could just be the beginning with the "selfie" phenomena. 

As for "Tweep" it simply means someone who uses Twitter a lot. :)

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I find that adding these words to the dictionary is ludicrous!!! They are not real words and our vocabulary is becoming weaker and weaker. Shocking that the future generation will never be able to write or read great language books and understand them, unless they are written in text language.

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Didn't selfie already make it into the Oxford dictionary last year? In any case, I'm really liking the fact that the dictionary is evolving with each year. It's very cool, because I used to think they were *set* things and only had *professional* words

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm a young adult, a college student, and I HATE the fact that these slang terms are being added to the dictionary. Someday when I have children and they are using a dictionary I would prefer they learn real words with real meaning rather than these slang terms.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am one that does not think that slang words should be added to the dictionary. These words come and go so quickly that it is pointless.  If someone does not know what a slang word means then they can look it up on the internet. The dictionary should be a useful tool for real words.

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  • 6 months later...

Honestly, most of the words I am not a fan of. I see those words all the time on social media. Those are the "slang" of today. I find most of them annoying, it is like they are the lazy version of actual words. I think that most of them evolved from texting. Some of those words are legitimate words and those are ok but many of those words are terrible. 

However, I also believe our language is ever changing. Who knows, maybe in 20 years those words will be the new words everyone is using. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm ambivalent about these slang being in a dictionary, but since they already added 'bootylicious'....

I don't like selfie though. I never take a selfie, and the other day a woman's selfie stick was the reason that a beautiful vase crashed to the floor in an antic shop.

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For me I don't seem to care what people think once I know I'm not doing something that is illegal or wrong. I do have the heart to make adjustments yes, but at the same time I do believe that people themselves can also adjust. They can also get used to me and give me the time and the grace period to adopt their dialect. Yes and it is true that there are not only variations in writing but also in speaking.

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Times are a-changing and it's quite evident with countless words being added to our dictionaries. It really shows how languages can evolve over time (or even a short period of time). It also reflects the effect of technology on our culture and language, and how people adapt to the changing times. I'm not sure what a tweep is or how socially relevant it is to be included. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

These are mostly social media terms and are applicable only in the context of online life. It's weird how these terms earn their spot in dictionaries. They're used rather informally but I guess the English language has to change with the changing times too and this is one way of dealing with the change.

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  • 6 months later...
On Wednesday, May 21, 2014 at 3:03 PM, Lasonax said:

I personally hate the fact that slang words are being put into the dictionary, simply because I find slang words to not belong there.

 

I think that slang words should be kept as slang, and not be put into the dictionary. By putting them into the dictionary, they are basically allowing the usage of slang terms in somewhat more formal situations. Even if the world will have an informal/slang-y reputation, it will be allowed to use it in essays/school reports/etc.

 

I know, they are simply putting new words into the dictionary, and they are adding words which a lot of people use. But personally I'm more for the controlled type of language where something needs to be more than just a popular word to be added to the dictionary. I suppose I am not very liberalistic when it comes to thigns such as these.

 

The same phenomenon happens a lot in the swedish language, and there it is even worse if you ask me. A lot of words that has been brought here by immigrants are being added into the dictionary because they are used so much by youngsters around here. We do have a pretty high amount of immigrants, and it's not surprising that such words gets popular with youngsters, but I still do not like that they are added to the official dictionary. I just don't see any point with it. To a certain extent, I would prefer the language to control us, and not the other way around. We do of course need to change things every now and then to adapt to how people talk and everything, but addings slangs feels like a step too much, but I am certain many will disagree with me on that.

 

I feel like I have repeated myself a dussin times now...

I agree! I think kids should have to learn formal language. These words not being included in my idea of formal. They should have to "earn the slang" like the rest or us. The same goes for "earning swear words". It's like a right of passage. When you are allowed to use them you out them in the cabinet and store them for the right time. 

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