'YOLO' and 'moobs' among new additions to Oxford English Dictionary

Mansplaining and hangry are the latest additions to the dictionary
PA
Tom Powell12 September 2016

“YOLO”, “moobs” and more than 1,000 other new words have made it into the latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

The acronym for ‘You Only Live Once’ can be traced back to a 19th century translation of a French novel. “Moobs” is shorthand for 'man boobs'.

“Westminster bubble” and “gender-fluid” make the cut, while there are also a number of Roald Dahl-inspired entries on the centenary of the author’s birth.

“Dahlesque”, meaning characteristic of Dahl’s works, “splendiferous” and “scrumdiddlyumptious” are included.

US colloquialism “fuhgeddabboudit” is another new word, used in the New York area to describe an unlikely or undesirable scenario.

Two new culinary terms are “Bocconcini”, meaning any small items of food or balls of mozzarella, and “spanakopita”, which is a Greek spinach and cheese-stuffed filo pasty pie.

The dictionary updated words including “slacktivist” and “clicktivist”, which both refer to a form of modern activism. The former involves doing the simplest, easiest things to support a cause while the latter is the use of digital media for facilitating change.

Yogalates, a fitness routine combining Pilates exercises with elements of yoga, was another word to make the list.

Michael Proffitt, chief Editor of the OED, said the latest edition includes more than 1,000 revised and updated entries.

He said: “This confirms the OED as one of the largest and longest-running language research projects in the world.”

The OED is the authority on the English language, including the etymology, history and pronunciation of more than 829,000 words.

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