YOLO and moobs among new words in Oxford English Dictionary
"YOLO", "Westminster bubble", and "moobs" are among the latest words to be added into the The Oxford English Dictionary in its quarterly update.
On the centenary of the birth of Roald Dahl, the dictionary has also added Dahlesque ("resembling or characteristic of the works of Roald Dahl") and popular words coined by the author, like "splendiferous" and "scrumdiddlyumptious".
The Dictionary also updated words like "gender-fluid", "squee!", as well as "slacktivist" and "clicktivist".
The latter two refer to a form of activism which signals support for a cause by "means of the Internet, through social media, online petitions, etc., rather than by more substantive involvement".
Jonathan Dent, Senior Assistant Editor of the OED, wrote about the update: "The acronym YOLO (1996) is traced back to its antecedent, the axiomatic you only live once (first used in a nineteenth-century English translation of Balzac’s French ‘on ne vit qu’un fois’ in his Le Cousin Pons).
"One of many variant spellings of biatch is first recorded in lyrics by hip-hop artist Too Short from 1986, while squee! was first used to represent any high-pitched squealing sound in 1865, and to express excitement or delight from 1998."
Top five new words, and what they mean:
Scrumdiddlyumptious: "Extremely scrumptious; excellent, splendid; (esp. of food) delicious."
YOLO: "You only live once."
Westminster Bubble: "The politicians, civil servants, and journalists working in and around the Westminster parliament, characterized as an insular community, out of touch with the experiences and concerns of the wider British public."
Yogalates: "A fitness routine combining Pilates exercises with the postures and breathing techniques of yoga."
Fuhgeddaboudit: "In representations of regional speech (associated especially with New York and New Jersey): 'forget about it', used to indicate that a suggested scenario is unlikely or undesirable."