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/ International News / 2008 / September 2008 / September 18, 2008 Britneys for beers, phwoar, stud muffin make it to Oxford English Dictionary! |
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Modern slang have been officially added to the latest edition of Oxford English Dictionary, including Britneys for beers to rhyme with the name of the singer Britney Spears.
London, Sept 18 : Modern slang have been officially added to the latest edition of Oxford English Dictionary, including "Britneys" for beers to rhyme with the name of the singer Britney Spears.
Language has always been a form of expression, with some of the words even describing an emotion.
The words that have gained an official entry to the English language, and that sticks out a mile are words like "phwoar" - meaning an "expression of enthusiastic or lubricious approval"
Included in the new book are words describing the physical attributes of a person or appreciation like "stud muffin" - an attractive man - and "arm candy" - a good-looking date.
These words could be deemed as "fit", and has been used as common shorthand for "sexually attractive", according to the book.
What has led to the spreading of such words globally is, according to the authors, the growth of the Internet.
With young people on both sides of the Atlantic regularly exchanging phrases, new American slang terms now lodge themselves in British culture quicker than ever before.
Some more added words are "hairy eyeball" - the look made by someone expressing "hostility or disapproval", and "mallrat" - someone who spends too much time hanging around shopping centres.
Added to the words are comic film catchphrases, which are coming back into the English language, words like "shagtastic" uttered by Austin Powers.
"Shagtastic" was made popular over a decade ago by 45-year-old funnyman Mike Myers's spoof spy and is also used to describe someone who is very sexy.
The new edition of the book also incorporates recent innovations in Cockney rhyming slang, including "Britneys" for beers - to rhyme with the name of the singer Britney Spears.
Other phrases making a comeback in the second edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang include "builder's bum". It has been around for more than a decade, used to describe the unsightly crack shown by workmen when bending over in ill-fitting trousers.
Some other words, which gained an entry into the book, included "Cushty" - meaning good, wonderful, fine and brilliant.
"Politricks" has Jamaican origins and means politics characterised by dishonesty.
And a "No-tell motel" is a hotel used for secret sex sessions.
The creators of the book, which is published by Oxford University Press, said they had aimed to preserve a section of the language that might otherwise be forgotten.
"Thousands of new slang words and expressions have flooded into the English language, most of them to be flushed away summarily," the Telegraph quoted John Ayto, the book's co-editor, as saying.
"Slang has a reputation for being ephemeral, for coming into the language and then going again.
"Slang seems to be much more widely accepted these days in society and the media," he added.
The dictionary, called Stone The Crows, includes 6,000 slang words and expressions, including 350 brand new words, while another 1,000 words have had their existing meanings expanded or altered.
ANI