What is happening to the English language?
Last week a variety of new, interesting and just plain strange words were added by Oxford Dictionaries.
Words like “awesomesauce,” meaning good or excellent and “beer o'clock,” referring to the appropriate time of day to start drinking.
The long list of additions included a variety of the latest slangs, phrases and popular vernacular getting tossed around these days.
“Hangry,” a combination of hungry and angry made the cut.
“Fat-shame,” referring to the shame one feels when others mock their large figure also found its way on the list.
In my opinion some of these additions were warranted and make complete sense. These are words are phrases that you might see someone like myself toss around from time to time.
Words like “brain fart,” which refers to a temporary lapse in judgment or forgetfulness, or “butt dial,” when you accidentally call someone with your phone in your rear pocket, make complete sense to me.
On the other hand, there are additions that are just ridiculous and are almost an insult to the English language.
The popular video gamers term “pwnage” referring to the act of beating an opponent, or “fur baby,” a cute nickname for ones pet, would be perfect examples of disgraceful new words.
Yeah I know, they are completely cringe worthy, or to keep with the times, they are “weak sauce,” another recently added word meaning poor or disappointing.
Now at first I had a hard time believing that any of these words would realistically make the cut and get added into the Oxford Dictionary. As it turns out, the Oxford Dictionary is an online branch of the Oxford brand and is completely separate of the Oxford English Dictionary. This online dictionary was made specifically to keep up with the times and include modern words, even if that means acknowledging Internet and gamer slang.
These words find their place in the Oxford Online Dictionary just as they would Urban Dictionary, but make no mistake they are not Oxford English Dictionary worthy.
Rest assured they have not made their way into the official dictionary and therefore aren't Canadian Press style. I'm sorry to disappoint, but you won't see me working any of these new words into my writing any time soon.
