Bants, Beer O’Clock And Manspreading Added To Oxford Dictionary

You can now say ‘top bants’ knowing that it’s not just lingo but officially recognised as language after it was one of a list of words and phrases added to the Oxford Dictionary.

Among the 1,000 new additions are beer o’clock, manspreading and brain fart - meaning Scrabble will be a lot more interesting in future.

Slightly more serious terms like Grexit, Brexit and deradicalisation are also added to the mix, as well as brush, pocket dial and even mkay - something South Park fans will be all-too-familiar with.

It may all seem like a dumbing down of the English language but Fiona McPherson, senior editor of Oxford Dictionaries, disagrees.

She said: “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.

"We are bombarded with more and more avenues where those sort of words are used and we just think that there are more of them. I don’t necessarily think that’s the case.

"From my point of view, as a leixcographer, it’s not really about dumbing down, it’s more creative ways that people are using language.”

You might need a dictionary just to know what some of those words mean - allow us to explain:

Bants

Playfully teasing or mocking remarks exchanged with another person or group; banter: it’s going to be a top night with plenty of bants, the bantz were better before social media and even better before text messaging.

Beer o’clock

An appropriate time of day for starting to drink beer: we went to find a bar as it was almost beer o’clock.

Brain fart

A temporary mental lapse or failure to reason correctly: I’m having a brain fart and can’t spell his name correctly.

Brexit

A term for the potential or hypothetical departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union: a Brexit is considered a real possibility for the first time in four decades, the report warned that Brexit would reduce the EU’s potential GDP by up to 0.36%

Bruh

A male friend (often used as a form of address): get off the Internet and get a life bruh, where are my bruhs at?

Deradicalisation

The action or process of causing a person with extreme views to adopt more moderate positions on political or social issues: a forensic psychologist who has written extensively on terrorism and deradicalization.

Manspreading

The practice whereby a man, especially one travelling on public transport, adopts a sitting position with his legs wide apart, in such a way as to encroach on an adjacent seat or seats: a campaign to discourage manspreading or using an adjacent seat as a footrest.

Mkay

Non-standard spelling of OK, representing an informal pronunciation (typically used at the end of a statement to invite agreement, approval, or confirmation).
come back in a few hours, may? just leave us some flowers by the door and we’ll pick them up later, mmkay? mkay, I think I needed that sleep

Wine o’clock

An appropriate time of day for starting to drink wine: I just checked my watch and it’s definitely wine o’clock.

Pics: Rex