Bantz, brain fart and awesomesauce: New words added to Oxford dictionary online
More than 1,000 new words have been added to OxfordDictionaries.com
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Do you know what it means to be 'hangry'? Or what a 'bruh' is?
Prepare to brush up on your vocabulary as a host of new words have been included in an online dictionary.
Hangry, which means to be bad-tempered as a result of hunger, and bruh, a word used to denote a male friend, are just two of more than 1,000 words that have been added to OxfordDictionaries.com in a quarterly update.
Other words include manspreading, when men position their legs wide apart to encroach on adjacent seats when travelling on public transport, rando, a name for an odd unknown person, and fat-shame, which means to mock somebody about their size.
News terms Brexit and Grexit - words used for the United Kingdom’s hypothetical exit from the EU and Greece’s potential exit from the Eurozone - were also included in the dictionary.
Other new words included:
- awesomesauce: extremely good; excellent
- bants (also bantz): playfully teasing or mocking remarks exchanged with another person or group; banter
- beer o'clock: an appropriate time of day for starting to drink beer
- brain fart: a temporary mental lapse or failure to reason correctly
- cakeage: a charge made by a restaurant for serving a cake they have not supplied themselves
cat cafe: a cafe or similar establishment where people pay to interact with cats housed on the premises
- cupcakery: a bakery that specialises in cupcakes
- deradicalisation: the action or process of causing a person with extreme views to adopt more moderate positions on political or social issues
- fatberg: a very large mass of solid waste in a sewerage system, consisting especially of congealed fat and personal hygiene products that have been flushed down toilets
- fur baby: a person's dog, cat, or other furry pet animal
- mkay: non-standard spelling of OK, representing an informal pronunciation (typically used at the end of a statement to invite agreement, approval, or confirmation)
- Mx: a title used before a person's surname or full name by those who wish to avoid specifying their gender or by those who prefer not to identify themselves as male or female
- pocket dial: inadvertently call (someone) on a mobile phone in one's pocket, as a result of pressure being accidentally applied to a button or buttons on the phone
- rage-quit: angrily abandon an activity or pursuit that has become frustrating, especially the playing of a video game
- Redditor: a registered user of the website Reddit
- social justice warrior: a person who expresses or promotes socially progressive views
- snackable: designed to be read, viewed, or otherwise engaged with briefly and easily
- spear phishing: the fraudulent practice of sending emails ostensibly from a known or trusted sender in order to induce targeted individuals to reveal confidential information
- swatting: the action or practice of making a hoax call to the emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address
- weak sauce: something that is of a poor or disappointing standard or quality
- wine o'clock: an appropriate time of day for starting to drink wine
New words enter the online dictionary if editors are certain of their widespread use in English. But they only make it into the Oxford English Dictionary if continued historical use is shown.
“There’s always been new slang words. I just think we are more aware of them because of the ways in which we consume and live our lives now,” said Fiona McPherson, a senior editor of Oxford Dictionaries.
“From my point of view, as a lexicographer, it’s not really about dumbing down, it’s more creative ways that people are using language,” she said.
Additional reporting by PA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments