The Oxford Dictionary Online is frequently updated to keep in trend with our ever-changing colloquialisms. But these August 2012 additions might give you the lolz: Plenty of Internet-related lingos have been officially initiated as part of the English language as per the dictionary’s standard. While some of these make perfect sense, such as UX and Hackathon, some of the other ones seems, well, ridic:
lolz, fun, laughter, or amusement
ridic, ridiculous
photobomb, spoil a photograph of (a person or thing) by suddenly appearing in the camera’s field of view as the picture is taken, typically as a prank or practical joke
UX, short for user experience
tweeps, a person’s followers on the social networking site Twitter
e-cigarette, another term for electronic cigarette
hat tip, (in online contexts) used as an acknowledgement that someone has brought a piece of information to the writer’s attention, or provided the inspiration for a piece of writing
Wikipedian, a person who contributes to the collaboratively written online encyclopedia Wikipedia, especially on a regular basis
ethnical hacker, a person who hacks into a computer network in order to test or evaluate its security, rather than with malicious or criminal intent
Hackathon, an event, typically lasting several days, in which a large number of people meet to engage in collaborative computer programming
“The world of technology remains a major influence on the English language,” reads the Oxford Dictionary blog, which announced the new word additions. These words come in conjunction with other tech-related jargon, such as 3D printing and sexting, which was added last year.
Several non-techy words have been added as well that make us shake our heads in shame. Some of them we wondered why they weren’t part of the English vocabulary (officially) before, while others just shouldn’t be a thing. We think you’ll know what we’re referring to in this list:
genius, exceptional intellectual or creative power or other natural ability
date night, a prearranged occasion on which an established couple, esp. one with children, go for a night out together.
video chat, a face-to-face conversation held over the Internet by means of webcams and dedicated software
group hug, an instance of a number of people gathering together to hug each other, typically to provide support or express solidarity:
mwahahaha, used to represent laughter, especially manic or cackling laughter such as that uttered by a villainous character in a cartoon or comic strip
douche, an obnoxious or contemptible person, typically a man
soul patch, a small tuft of facial hair directly below a man’s lower lip.
vajazzle, adorn the pubic area of (a woman) with crystals, glitter, or other decoration
