New words have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Photo credit: PA‘Half-caf’, ‘galaktoboureko’ and ‘supergirl’, are among thousands of new additions to the Oxford English Dictionary.A shake-up of the world famous Oxford English Dictionary has seen words recently added – with the update including around 2,500 words with sub- and super- prefixes.
Among the thousands of prefixed words is ‘super-injunction’, which made its claim to fame last year when it was repeatedly splashed on Twitter and uttered in the House of Commons, has made a fashionably late entrance into the dictionary.
In May 2011, the affair between footballer Ryan Giggs and Welsh glamour model Imogen Thomas put the word ‘super-injunction’ on the map after the Manchester United midfielder attempted to obtain a gagging order preventing the disclosure of his infidelity.
Super-injunction was used in the British media continually as Twitter users freely retweeted the details of celebrity super-injunctions as #superinjunction started to trend – making a mockery of the legal system.
The dictionary, which is revised four times a year, also sees new words from the world of economics (quantitative easing), technology (sub-domain), and leisure (dance-off).
Speaking about the surprisingly late appearance of ‘super-injunction’, John Simpson, editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, said: “At the OED, we don’t include new entries until we have determined that they have really found their feet in the language.
“However, as it turns out, we have already lived through that cooling-off period. Once the OED’s researchers got on to the trail of super-injunction we found evidence for it back in 1997. And this shows the wisdom of watching and waiting: when the word was first used in English, it related to a Community Service Order restricting the movement of certain categories of people.
“As words do, this word broadened its use over the years, and it wasn’t long before the super-injunction was being used by celebrities to restrict the movement of apparent facts about them.
“New words are often older than we think; and they often shift before they find a more settled place in the language – hence the value of watching and waiting, rather than rushing to judgment.”
Mr Simpson told Yahoo! News: "The fascination for me is how a changing language reflects a changing society. We can follow both through super-injunctions, dance-offs, and cybercasts. And behind this is the detailed research which updates all of the sub- and super- words in the dictionary. Not a bad job.”
Here are some more words and their definitions added to the new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Babalawo – (noun) originally in West Africa: a traditional healer in the Ifa system of divination
Digipak – (noun) a proprietary name for: a type of gatefold CD or DVD packaging, typically made from cardboard with an internal plastic holder for one or more discs
Galaktoboureko – (noun) in Greek cookery: a dessert consisting of semolina custard baked inside a filo pastry crust, often flavoured with lemon or orange and topped with syrup
Half-caf – (noun) a drink of coffee made using caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee mixed in equal parts, so as to give coffee with half the normal level of caffeine; coffee of this type
Iguanodontid – (noun) any of various herbivorous ornithopod dinosaurs constituting the chiefly Cretaceous family Iguanodontidae, characterized by a robust body and a large skull with a toothless beak
Retcon - (noun) in a fictional work or series: a piece of new (and typically revelatory) information which imposes a different interpretation on previously described events, often employed to facilitate a dramatic plot shift or account for an inconsistency
Sauropodomorph – (noun) any of various herbivorous saurischian dinosaurs constituting the suborder Sauropodomorpha, which typically had a long neck and small head
Scotchgarding - (verb) the action or process of treating textiles, etc, with Scotchgard. Also: the fluorocarbon preparation used in this treatment.Supergirl – (noun) a young woman (occas. a girl) having outstanding physical or mental abilities, talents, or achievements.
