From Roald Dahl to the American election, a wide variety of influences can be found in the new words added to the Oxford English Dictionary this past year. If you’ve been holding off on including popular slang like “YOLO” in your writing, your wait is over! This Drake-popularised abbreviation is just one of many new entries to the dictionary in 2016. Try out some of our favourites below, or see the full list on the official OED website.
- Gender-fluid (adj. or n.)
- Moobs (n.)
- YOLO (int. or adj.)
- ‘Merica (n.)
- Freemium (n.)
- Non-apology (n.)
- Yoda (n.)
- Squee (v. or n.)
- Cheeseball (n.)
- Fuhgeddaboudit (contr.)
- Yogalates (n.)
- YouTuber (n.) or YouTube (v.)
- Upstander (n.)
- Oompa Loompa (n.)
- Scrumdiddlyumptious (adj.)
- Witching hour (n.)
- T-bone (v.)
- Transporter (Star Trek n.)
- Uptalk (n.)
- Clickbait (n.)
If there is one word that rose above them all last year, it was “post-truth,” the official Word of the Year according to the OED. And it’s not just the OED that changes the way we think about the English language. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an American-English equivalent, has been courting controversy since Noah Webster published its first edition in 1828. Catch up on the surprisingly controversial history of that dictionary here.
What do you think about 2016’s new words? Any predictions on what might be added in 2017?
About Paperblanks: At Paperblanks, we believe that art should have a place in all aspects of life. That’s why we follow the artist’s way in everything we do – creating, crafting and releasing designs we believe have the power to touch people. For more about Paperblanks, go to our website at paperblanks.com.
