‘Retweet’ among words added to Oxford Dictionary

Cos

Saw this earlier today. I like how progressive the Oxford Dictionary really is. Words like “Retweet’, ‘woot’, and  ‘textspeak’ (which originate from the days of Instant Messenger, doubt anyone still remembers that). Only a few more words have been added other then the three above. Check out the article from BBC News:

‘Retweet’ and ‘woot’ make Oxford dictionary debut

19 August 2011 Last updated at 08:07 ET

They include retweet – to pass on a message on Twitter, and textspeak – a language that typically young people use to talk lyk dis.

Other words such as cyberbullying and sexting also make their debut.

“These additions are just carrying on the tradition of a dictionary that has always sought to be progressive,” said OED editor Angus Stevenson.

“Social networking sites have created a real language of the net,” he explained in a blog post.

“We’ve noticed that new words come into currency much more quickly as a result of the internet, as people see friends, or friends of friends using new words and copy them.”

He said that words like woot or w00t – an exclamation of triumph and success – can originate abroad but rapidly gain mass usage across the rest of the English-speaking world.

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To read the rest of the article, go to: BBC News

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