2011年3月26日 星期六

Interesting and Lovely New Entries in OED

http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR4/6235647.shtml

心形符號 牛津辭典列英語單字
【聯合報╱編譯組/報導】
2011.03.26 02:11 am


收錄新字不稀奇,牛津英語辭典(Oxford English Dictionary)打破語言傳統,正式把心形符號列為英語字詞之一

My comments: Will there be more symbols listed in the dictionary?

英國每日郵報報導,這是具有一百廿七年歷史的牛津辭典首度收錄圖形符號。牛津辭典將心形符號列在英文單字heart的旁邊,詞性是動詞,意思是「愛」。

My comments: It can be a noun too.

心形符號最廣為人知的用法,可能要算是宣揚紐約的圖案「I Love NY」,其中的Love以心形符號代替。這個圖案約於一九七○年代中期出現由美國紐約州商務局副局長委託廣告公司,替該市策劃行銷宣傳下的產物



如今在牛津辭典的網路修訂版,已經可以查到這個符號和其他新增字詞,例如wags和muffin top

「wags」是wives and girlfriends的縮寫,意為大嫂團,乃英國報紙針對貝克漢等足球球星的妻子和女友所發明的新詞。

「muffin top」指腰際的游泳圈肥肉,形容腹部肥肉在緊身褲或裙頭擠壓下凸出,就像瑪芬蛋糕(muffin)擠出紙杯上緣的模樣。

My comments:

牛津辭典是公認的英語權威,羅列全球英語地區使用的六十萬個單字的時態、意義、歷史和音標

My comments: There are more new entries, for example, OMG, LOL, IMHO, BFF, and flat white, the first four of which are Internet slang. Can you guess their meanings? Please see http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR4/6235631.shtml

The following is a related onloine article I just came across:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2382620,00.asp

LOL, OMG, FYI Added to Online Oxford English Dictionary

 

Internet slang like LOL and OMG are commonplace on sites like Twitter and Facebook or in GChat and AIM, but do they belong in the dictionary?

The Oxford English Dictionary says yes; LOL, OMG, and FYI were added to the March 2011 release of the OED Online dictionary.

For those not versed in Web slang, OMG is short for "Oh my God," or gosh, goodness, etc., while LOL is "laugh out loud" and FYI is "for your information." OED says these abbreviations join others like TMI (too much information) and BFF (best friends forever).

OED notes that on the Internet or on texts, "initialisms are quicker to type than the full forms, and (in the case of text messages, or Twitter, for example) they help to say more in media where there is a limit to a number of characters one may use in a single message."

OMG and LOL, however, have been found "outside of electronic contexts," OED said. "The intention is usually to signal an informal, gossipy mode of expression, and perhaps parody the level of unreflective enthusiasm or overstatement that can sometimes appear in online discourse, while at the same time marking oneself as an 'insider' au fait with the forms of expression associated with the latest technology."

Interestingly, OED dug into the history books a bit and found that these terms had lives before the Internet was even invented. The first quotation of OMG, for example, was in a personal letter in 1917 and FYI originated in 1941, while in 1960, LOL was used as an abbreviation for "little old lady."

Some non-techie words also made the cut, for better or worse, including: couch surfing; muffin top; la-la land; rub-a-dub; taquito; and wassup.

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