The Oxford Dictionaries Online has officially declared “NSFW,” “newb” and “Twittersphere,” among other Internet slang terms, real words. The dictionary, which is considered one of the preeminent authorities on the English language, is actively taking steps to incorporate the language used online into the approved lexicon.
The words were added because “the world of computers and social networking continues to be a major influence on the English language,” says the Oxford website in an announcement of the May updates. Earlier this year, Oxford admitted “bloggable,” “cyberbullying,” and “LOL” into its list of acceptable terms.
Below, a complete list of the new tech- and web-related words that anyone can now use without (much) shame:
• breadcrumb trail – (on a website) a series of hyperlinks displayed at the top of a web page, indicating the page’s position in the overall structure of the site
• Cyber Monday – (in the US) the Monday following Thanksgiving, promoted by online retailers as a day for exceptional bargains
• infographic – a visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data: a good infographic is worth a thousand words
• insidery – proceeding from or reflecting an insider’s knowledge or perspective: an insidery website that is widely read in the capital’s political precincts insidery jargon
• lappy – a laptop: I’m going to transfer my CD collection to the lappy
• lifehack – a strategy or technique adopted in order to manage one’s time and daily activities in a more efficient way
• meep – a short, high-pitched sound, especially as emitted by an animal or a vehicle’s horn: the kitten released a terrified meep
• nekkid – (of a person) naked: some of the oldest photos in existence are of nekkid women
• network neutrality – the principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites
• newb – short for newbie: it’s easy enough for total newbs to pick up and play
• NSFW – not safe (or suitable) for work (used in electronic communication to indicate that a particular web page or website contains explicit sexual material or other adult content): if your friend just sent you something with NSFW in the subject line, don’t go there
• paperless – relating to or involving the storage or communication of information in electronic form, rather than on paper: several of the utilities companies have switched to paperless billing
• permalink – a permanent static hyperlink to a particular web page or entry in a blog
• Twittersphere – postings made on the social networking site Twitter, considered collectively: the Twittersphere was abuzz when the story first broke
• unfollow – stop tracking (a person, group, or organization) on a social networking site: never unfollow someone just because they unfollowed you!
• ZOMG – (used especially on electronic message boards as a sarcastic comment on an inexperienced or overenthusiastic poster) oh my God!: ZOMG! ! I finally managed to reformat the file; the airport was hot and big, but there was really nothing that made me stop and think ZOMG FOREIGN COUNTRY!
