# OMG, LOL and <3 Now Accepted in Oxford Dictionary



## TheFuhrer02 (Mar 28, 2011)

Yes, you read it right. OMG, LOL and the heart symbol "<3" are now official word entries in the Oxford dictionary.

Link: OMG! Oxford English Dictionary adds new words - CNN.com

Quote from article:

OMG! It is no longer a just a teenage expression, but officially a word found in the dictionary.

"FYI" (for your information), "LOL" (laughing out loud) and "OMG" (oh my god) are all now formally recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary, one of the world's principal English-language dictionaries.​
Interesting, huh?


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## _ Ellie _ Sinclair _ (Mar 28, 2011)

Wow, thats definatelty interesting... thats about as bad as them putting "Bootylicious" in there.


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## Foxee (Mar 28, 2011)

They must be desperate for new entries.


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## Dudester (Mar 28, 2011)

"Fixin" is a Texas word. Is it in there ?


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## Eluixa (Mar 29, 2011)

You'd want them in there when in a thousand years some poor sap is trying to decode it all.


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## The Backward OX (Mar 29, 2011)

Wonder when they'll get around to including words like "definatelty" ukel:


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## TheFuhrer02 (Mar 29, 2011)

^ Hahahaha! 







I see what you did there, Ox. X\'D


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## ewan (Mar 29, 2011)

They put them there *cos* they are *gud* an easy to use. Eventually *eggselent* will also be recognized.


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## garza (Mar 29, 2011)

The Oxford English Dictionary is not 'one of the world's principal English-language dictionaries'. The OED is the definitive dictionary of the English language. The OED defines the English language. Even the people at the new university near Highfields will tell you that. 

The people who choose what goes into a dictionary are the people who use the language. When a new word has, by widespread usage, become a part of the language, then it goes in. The definitions of words in the dictionary are created and changed by the people who use the language. The editors of the dictionary look at how words are used and write the definitions from that.


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## JosephB (Mar 29, 2011)

Yep. That's how it works, all right.


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## Intel (Mar 29, 2011)

But nobody say's 'lol' or 'omg' in real life...do they?


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## garza (Mar 29, 2011)

Dictionaries define the written language. To define spoken English would be impossible. The two, written and spoken, interact, with the spoken language evolving faster, acquiring and disposing of words generation to generation, while the dictionary, reflecting only the written language, serves as an anchor to stop the language from becoming incomprehensible.


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## BipBopRealGoodNop (Mar 29, 2011)

how utterly stupid and ridiculous. i hate it when Oxford bring in all these stupid abbreviations. what the hell is point in OMG and LOL?? Just say 'Oh my God' or 'Laugh out Loud'.

I mean OMG!!! (LOL)


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## garza (Mar 29, 2011)

BipBopRealGoodNop - Let me see if I can make it simpler. 

Dictionary editors pay no attention to the way you talk or the way I talk in choosing words to include. They only pay attention to what is written. Much of what is written today is on the Internet. Those two abbreviations are commonly used on many forums, in blogs, in social network postings, almost everywhere on the Internet. They are beginning to be used in other written communications. 

Many of us do no approve of such expressions becoming part of the language. Probably the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary do not approve of such expressions. The truth remains - they are in common usage. That which is in common usage needs to be included and explained in the dictionary.

The dictionary reflects what is written. We go to the dictionary to find the way a word is commonly used and the way it is commonly spelt. 

Pronunciation guides in dictionaries are less reliable because of the many ways the same combination of letters is pronounced in different countries and different cultures. The pronunciation guides do serve as a starting place for a person unfamiliar with a word.


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## Olly Buckle (Mar 29, 2011)

They must have been on those letters, as I remember the committee that considers words only get through a few letters each year, so that while one part is up to date another can lag several years behind. If you own the Complete Oxford Dictionary you can become a reader for them, submitting words not found in it along with details of where you saw them and what you understand their meaning to be. I have owned my compact edition for about forty years without being unable to find a word I didn't know in it, and I have looked up a few. I carry a pencil and write them on the fly leaf of the book I am reading, with the page number and a mark in the margin where it is used, so I can check them out later. Then, when I have checked I rub them out, I hate getting books with other people's notes in the margin.

Recent examples, alkanet, galingale, gurnard, escheator, shawm. "Can you guess what the book was yet", in my best Rolf Harris accent.


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## garza (Mar 29, 2011)

A cookbook, of course.


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## Dudester (Mar 30, 2011)

Intel said:


> But nobody say's 'lol' or 'omg' in real life...do they?


 
Yes they do. It's part of the California dialect (I speak Californian).

Just as fixin is part of he Texas dialect ("I was fixin to mow the lawn").

English: Roundabout
American English:Intersection

English: Whirlygig
American English: Merry Go Round

English: Biscuit
American English: Cookie

English: Bangers & Mash
American English: Meat & Potatoes

English: Spam
American English: That crap again ?

English: Knickers
American English: Panties


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## The Backward OX (Mar 30, 2011)

garza said:


> The pronunciation guides do serve as a starting place for a person unfamiliar with a word.


 
But only if one *first* has a comprehensive understanding of the International Phonetic Alphabet – the guide to how individual letters or groups of letters are pronounced. I had intended including a few examples of the IPA here, but it’s far too complex. If you’re interested, you can look it up for yourself and you’ll see why I qualify your comment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet

Here’s an extract:

“The general principle of the IPA is to provide one letter for each distinctive sound (speech segment). This means that it does not use combinations of letters to represent single sounds, the way English does with ‹sh› and ‹ng›, or single letters to represent multiple sounds the way ‹x› represents /ks/ or /ɡz/ in English. There are no letters that have context-dependent sound values, as ‹c› does in English and other European languages, and finally, the IPA does not usually have separate letters for two sounds if no known language makes a distinction between them, a property known as "selectiveness".
Among the symbols of the IPA, 107 letters represent consonants and vowels, 31 diacritics are used to modify these, and 19 additional signs indicate suprasegmental qualities such as length, tone, stress, and intonation.”

So there. :drunk:


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## The Backward OX (Mar 30, 2011)

Dudester said:


> Yes they do. It's part of the California dialect (I speak Californian).
> 
> Just as fixin is part of he Texas dialect ("I was fixin to mow the lawn").
> 
> ...


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## Dudester (Mar 30, 2011)

the backward ox said:


> phooey


 
omg !! Lol


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## JosephB (Mar 30, 2011)

Dudester said:


> Just as fixin is part of he Texas dialect ("I was fixin to mow the lawn").



People say that here in Georgia, and as far as I know, pretty much all over the Southeast.


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## TheFuhrer02 (Mar 30, 2011)

So, pardon my ignorance but, what does "Fixin" mean?


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## garza (Mar 30, 2011)

about to, getting prepared to, preparing my self to, have it as a priority item on my 'to do' list, hold my beer and watch...


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## BipBopRealGoodNop (Mar 30, 2011)

garza said:


> BipBopRealGoodNop - Let me see if I can make it simpler.
> 
> Dictionary editors pay no attention to the way you talk or the way I talk in choosing words to include. They only pay attention to what is written. Much of what is written today is on the Internet. Those two abbreviations are commonly used on many forums, in blogs, in social network postings, almost everywhere on the Internet. They are beginning to be used in other written communications.
> 
> ...



Yes!! I do understand the purpose of a dictionary! It's to find the definition of words.


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## TheFuhrer02 (Mar 30, 2011)

garza said:


> about to, getting prepared to, preparing my self to, have it as a priority item on my 'to do' list, hold my beer and watch...


 
Intriguing. So that's what it meant. I learned something new today! Thanks!


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## garza (Mar 30, 2011)

BipBopRealGoodNop - No. The purpose of the dictionary is to reflect how the word is commonly used, and what secondary uses there may be for it. The dictionary does not define the word. Writers define the word. Again: '_We go to the dictionary to find the way a word is commonly used and the way it is commonly spelt_.' The makers of dictionaries do not decide what a word means. We decide that as we use the word. 

See post 23 for a definition of 'fixin''. It's not my definition. The definition I wrote reflects the way the word is commonly used across the southern part of the United States.  
'I'm fixin' t'go t'town. Anybody need'ny thng?' 
'I am preparing to go to town. Does anybody need anything?' 

A word is defined by use. As the use changes, the definition changes, not because the dictionary makers decide to change it but because the use of the word by people changes. 'To let' once meant 'to hinder', but the meaning reversed in popular usage and today the most common use of the word means 'to allow'. Corn originally meant any cereal, and continues to mean that in the U-K. In North America corn, by popular usage, has come to mean maize. 

We go to the dictionary to find the common uses of a word, understanding that the dictionary definition is necessarily limited. The dictionary can list neither all the many contexts in which the word may be found nor all the shades of meaning which may attach to a word. Thus we use the dictionary as a starting point in understanding a word.


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## JosephB (Mar 30, 2011)

TheFuhrer02 said:


> Intriguing. So that's what it meant. I learned something new today! Thanks!



My wife is from a small Georgia town. She usually reverts to her heavy accent and colloquialisms when she's angry. If you hear her say "fixin," you'd better watch out. What follows usually isn't going to be something you will like.


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## Nale Gregev (Mar 31, 2011)

It might be interesting to guess the origin of some people on this forum, judging only by their diction and word choice. Sadly, Most people broadcast their locations...would anybody care to guess which part of the world I am from? Judging from my verbage only? No cheating, now.


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## The Backward OX (Mar 31, 2011)

Today's new word - verbage.


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## JosephB (Mar 31, 2011)

I guess that's a cross between verbiage and garbage.


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## Shirley S. Bracken (Mar 31, 2011)

I am in South Georgia and it's pronounced Fiddin' to...
Lived in Texas too.  Fixin' to...
I get tired of new words.  If I hear gooder or ginormous again, I will barf.
Morning everyone.


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## JosephB (Mar 31, 2011)

I have to say, I've never heard "fiddin' to..." Maybe I haven't been far enough south.


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## Shirley S. Bracken (Mar 31, 2011)

There could be another whole dictionary of Southern slang.  I grew up in Fla. and landed in S. GA.  Life is slow here.  I like it that way.


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## SilverMoon (Mar 31, 2011)

I'm from New York where everyone is on the go. Once visited S. Georgia. Went into a coffee shop and speedily said. "Coffeemilknosugartogo" The woman looked at me, perplexed, and slowly said "Can ya try do'in some English." 

My dear uncle thought LOL meant "Lots of Love" and would sign off that way in his e-mails. I never had the heart to correct him. Why? It's all just silly business to me.


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## JosephB (Mar 31, 2011)

Southerners can talk pretty fast and run things together too. Here's one of my favorites from a McDonald's in South Carolina:

I asked the girl behind the counter which drink was the diet coke and she said, "Dat-Coke-got-top-punched-tin."

Translation: "The Diet Coke is the one with the top punched in." Meaning, one of the little bubbles on the lid that indicates the type of drink was pushed in.


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## TheFuhrer02 (Mar 31, 2011)

JosephB said:


> I guess that's a cross between verbiage and garbage.


 
That's actually the slang definition, or at least what a little Googling turned out. But no, it isn't acknowledged in any dictionary.


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## Nale Gregev (Mar 31, 2011)

"Verbage -- vihr-bahj, n. :: The ancient remnants of what once was an uneducated man."



:edit: And I shall have to remember the proper spelling.


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## Olly Buckle (Apr 1, 2011)

> American English is either Roundabout or Traffic Circle.
> 
> An intersection is an intersection is an intersection, wherever you are.


Except in England where it is only that in officialese, like police men speak "I was proceeding in a north westerly direction approaching the intersection" ordinary people would be "Going north west towards the cross-road."


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## The Backward OX (Apr 1, 2011)

> Except in England where it is only that in officialese, like police men speak "I was proceeding in a north westerly direction approaching the intersection" ordinary people would be "Going north west towards the cross-road."


 
What would an ordinary Britisher say if they were approaching a junction of roads that came together in a *T *or* Y* shape or a five-ways? "Going north-west towards Aberystwyth"*?* :-\"


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## Baron (Apr 1, 2011)

The Backward OX said:


> What would an ordinary Britisher say if they were approaching a junction of roads that came together in a *T *or* Y* shape or a five-ways? "Going north-west towards Aberystwyth"*?* :-\"


 
A cross-roads is where roads cross. The number is irrelevant.


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## Olly Buckle (Apr 1, 2011)

I would think of it as a junction, as in a T-junction or Y-junction, but a five-way would still be a crossroads, unless it's called something, like "Fiveways".


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## garza (Apr 1, 2011)

In the U.S. those are called five-points. There's one in San Ignacio Town, Belize, that's not really called anything. There are no stop signs,yield signs, or any other sort of marking. It's one of the busiest intersections in the country. I've never heard of a traffic accident there, and the old folks say they don't think there's ever been one.


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## The Backward OX (Apr 1, 2011)

They're prolly all Mr Magoos, and just go ploughing on through life completely oblivious to the trail of mayhem in their wake.


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## Olly Buckle (Apr 3, 2011)

garza said:


> In the U.S. those are called five-points. There's one in San Ignacio Town, Belize, that's not really called anything. There are no stop signs,yield signs, or any other sort of marking. It's one of the busiest intersections in the country. I've never heard of a traffic accident there, and the old folks say they don't think there's ever been one.


There was an interesting experiment over here where a particularly bad accident area was made a mixed pedestrian and traffic area, no separate pavements, people walking amongst the traffic. People's perception is that it is much more dangerous, when asked they use expressions like 'ridiculous' and 'lethal', but in fact the accidents have stopped since they did it. It ties in with the fact that straight, open roadsare actually more dangerous than twisty dangerous looking ones.


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## The Backward OX (Apr 5, 2011)

Olly Buckle said:


> There was an interesting experiment over here where a particularly bad accident area was made a mixed pedestrian and traffic area, no separate pavements, people walking amongst the traffic. People's perception is that it is much more dangerous, when asked they use expressions like 'ridiculous' and 'lethal', but in fact the accidents have stopped since they did it. It ties in with the fact that straight, open roadsare actually more dangerous than twisty dangerous looking ones.


This ties in with something I read about how the closer to home you are, the more likely you are to have an accident. It's all to do with complacency and with familiarity breeding contempt.


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## ewan (May 7, 2011)

Silver Moon said:


> y dear uncle thought LOL meant "Lots of Love" and would sign off that way in his e-mails. I never had the heart to correct him. Why? It's all just silly business to me.


LoL does mean Lots of Love...doesn't it?


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## Skeletor (May 9, 2011)

My girlfriend is quite upset about this   I see it as simply the natural evolution of the language.  Pretty cool that in this day and age we get to actually see it evolving before our eyes!

Also, I have friends (especially gamer friends) who often speak these abbreviations, saying stuff like "LOL" and "Sigh!" when they could actually just, you know, LOL or sigh...


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