New word of the month
Making the Grade:
New Words in MED2
by Kerry Maxwell

This month, to mark the recent release of an exciting new edition of the Macmillan English Dictionary, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at how many of the new words and expressions we’ve been talking about over the past few years have made the editorial grade, and been granted a place in the A-Z text of this great new volume.

The second edition of the Macmillan English Dictionary (MED2) contains nearly 2000 new headwords. Many of these words have been added, not because they are new, but because user research has identified them as useful for learners. Many new headwords come from particular subject areas, such as business and technology, or linguistics and grammar, an area of particular relevance to people involved in language teaching and learning. But dotted among these new additions are a handful of words that are pure and simply ‘new’, recent innovations in the English language which have met the (quite stringent) criteria required to make it into print. We talked about the processes involved in deciding when a new word should be included in a dictionary in an earlier article in MED magazine. The overriding qualification required for entry into a dictionary is extensive, reliable evidence of use, across a range of sources, and over a number of years.

We’ve been examining new words and expressions in MED magazine and Word of the Week since 2002, so it seems likely that one or two of the hundreds we’ve looked at might have jumped through all the right usage hoops and found a home in the 2007 edition of MED. Well, they have indeed, and interestingly there’s evidence of some of the new words we’ve discussed popping up at almost every letter of the alphabet. Nearly 19% (i.e.: about a fifth) of the words currently in the Word of the Week archive are now enshrined in MED2. This is not to say of course, that these words are there to stay. If any word, new or old, wants to hang onto its place in the dictionary, it needs to continue ‘earning its keep’ by being used, and this in turn bears a direct relation to its relevance in society - so who knows what story subsequent editions of MED will tell? For now however, let’s take a look at which of the neologisms we’ve previously explored have found a place in MED2:

A is for…

ASBO noun [countable]

anti-social behaviour order: an official document issued by a British court that orders someone to stop behaving in a way that makes life unpleasant for people living near them

With the UK Government’s introduction of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act in 2003, Asbos seem here to stay. In October 2005, amid growing concern about pre-teenage crime and anti-social behaviour, the government revealed plans for the Basbo or Baby Asbo, though this term has so far not made it into printed dictionaries.

B is for ….

bird flu noun [uncountable]
a type of FLU (= an infectious disease that makes you hot and cold, tired and weak) that affects chickens and some other birds and animals and can also infect humans

Also known (and listed in MED2) as avian flu. This potentially pandemic flu virus continues to cause major concern all over the world. It hit the British headlines again in February 2007, when the first significant outbreak in the UK was confirmed to have occurred at a turkey farm in Suffolk.

bling or bling bling noun [uncountable] INFORMAL
1 fashionable jewellery or similar expensive shiny objects
2 behaviour deliberately aimed at showing how rich you are, for example spending money in an obvious way or wearing expensive clothes or jewellery

Used as an adjective and adverb, and even a phrasal verb bling (it) up. Now commonplace in informal speech and writing, especially the media.

Bogof or BOGOF noun [uncountable] BUSINESS
buy one get one free: the practice of giving customers an extra product free each time they buy one product

Now an established marketing practice and no longer unusual in supermarket advertising.

C is for…
carbon-neutral adjective
a carbon-neutral activity, company etc balances the amount of CARBON DIOXIDE and CARBON MONOXIDE it produces with actions that are designed to protect the environment, for example planting trees or using less electricity

Capturing an important aspect of the 21st century zeitgeist. Climate change and its negative environmental consequences are an escalating concern, firmly on the political agenda in 2007. Carbon-neutral was voted 2006 Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary.

chav noun [countable] BRITISH INFORMAL OFFENSIVE
someone, especially a working-class person, who is not well educated, who dresses in DESIGNER clothes and wears a lot of gold jewellery but whose appearance shows bad taste

Who would have believed that a social stereotype, a pejorative description of an ‘underclass’ of young men and women, would rocket its way into the dictionary? Like it or not, it looks like the chav is here to stay…

Chelsea tractor noun [countable] BRITISH HUMOROUS
a name for a large FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE vehicle that people drive around towns and cities although it is more suitable for roads in the country

There’s one parked on every street corner, but it remains to be seen whether this expression for referring to gas-guzzling vehicles will outlive political responses to climate change.

citizen journalism noun [uncountable]
the use of mobile phones and video cameras by members of the public to record news events on film

21st century media and the mobile phone as standard personal equipment have cemented the role of the citizen journalist.

civil union noun [countable]
a ceremony similar to a wedding for two people who are of the same sex

Following the 2004 Civil Partnership Act, the first official ceremonies in the UK took place on 21st December 2005, among them that of Sir Elton John and partner David Furnish.

D is for …

dirty bomb noun [countable]
a bomb containing harmful nuclear waste that is sent out when the bomb explodes

Unfortunately we never seem to stop finding new ways of killing or harming others…

E is for…

ELF noun [uncountable]
English as a lingua franca: a form of English that is sometimes used as a way of communicating by people whose first languages are not English, and that has some features that are not usually considered to be correct in standard English

This acronym has gained ground in the Internet age, where English continues to dominate as the global language of business communication.

G is for…

greenwash noun [uncountable] SHOWING DISAPPROVAL
activities by a business or other organization that are intended to show that the organization is concerned about the environment

An expression riding the wave of increasing concern about environmental issues. In May 2007, UK chancellor Gordon Brown was accused of greenwash as he announced plans for 5 new “eco-towns” containing up to 100,000 carbon neutral homes.

K is for…

kidult noun [countable] INFORMAL
an adult who enjoys entertainment such as films or computer games that are intended mainly for children

The boundaries between child- and adulthood seem to be fading in the 21st century.

M is for…

metrosexual noun [countable] INFORMAL
a young HETEROSEXUAL man who enjoys good clothes, having an attractive home, and improving his personal appearance

Epitomized by celebrity icons like photogenic footballer David Beckham. It’s ‘rugged’ counterparts the retrosexual and ubersexual, despite plenty of evidence of use, haven’t yet made it into lexicographic print.

moblog noun [countable] COMPUTING
a WEBLOG (=a website that frequently has new personal information added to it) that contains mainly photographs from mobile phones or PDAs

There are so many ways to communicate these days, and we’re getting increasingly creative as we combine new media.

N is for …

nanopublishing noun [uncountable] COMPUTING
the publishing of information on the Internet using methods that do not cost a lot of money, for example using WEBLOGS (=websites that frequently have new personal information added to them)

It didn’t take long for us to realise that the ease of presenting information and opinions online affords a whole new publishing opportunity.

P is for …

phish verb [intransitive] COMPUTING
to trick someone into giving secret information about their bank account or CREDIT CARD by sending them an email that looks as though it comes from their bank

Fish now has a homophone. Sadly it reflects the fact that fraudsters are as operative in the online universe as they are in the real world…

podcast noun [countable]
a MULTIMEDIA file, such as a radio programme or music video, that can be downloaded from the Internet and played on an IPOD or similar piece of equipment. The method of publishing files that can be used in this way is called podcasting.

A new revolution in broadcasting - pick up the programme you’re interested in and listen or watch whenever you like. The convenience and widespread adoption of the podcast concept has catapulted the word into general use.

prepone verb [transitive] INDIAN ENGLISH
to change the date or time of something to an earlier date or time

A logical addition to the language on the model of postpone, and a fantastically useful verb. Here’s hoping that it becomes accepted more widely in standard English.

S is for …

SARS noun [uncountable] MEDICAL
a serious illness that affects your chest and that was first reported in Asia in 2003

An acronym of severe acute respiratory syndrome, this pneumonia-like disease sent shockwaves throughout the world in the early 21st century. To date there has still only been one major epidemic, occurring in mainland China between November 2002 and July 2003.

seachanger noun [countable] AUSTRALIAN
someone who has moved out of a city, especially to the coast, to have a quieter life

A new spin on the established compound sea change which cleverly exploits both a literal and non-compositional meaning. Seachangers continue to strongly influence the demographics of many Australian cities and towns.

speed dating noun [uncountable]
an event at which single people looking for a partner divide into pairs and have short conversations with each other and decide who among those they have met they would like to meet again

In the fast-moving pace of the 21st century, it seems that eight minutes or less is more than enough time to decide whether someone you’ve just met is the person you’d like to spend the rest of your life with…

spim noun [uncountable] COMPUTING
emails that are sent to large numbers of people on the Internet and that arrive on their computer screens in the form of INSTANT messages, especially when these are not wanted

From spam to spim. Instant messaging spam joins a host of afflictions relating to online security.

Stepford adjective
doing what other people want without complaining or asking questions
She was a Stepford celebrity, until she began a relationship with a married man.

A newly recognised adjective providing a lively alternative to the likes of cooperative, compliant, obedient or submissive.

sudoku noun [uncountable]
a number game in which you fill a square of 81 smaller squares with the numbers 1 to 9 so that each row, column , and square of 9 squares contains each number only once

There’s one in every newspaper or magazine. The sudoku is now as familiar as the humble daily crossword.

supersize verb [transitive]
to change something for a much larger size
a. [intransitive] to become much larger

It all started with large portions of french fries at well-known fast food restaurants, but is now synonymous with what some perceive to be the ‘excesses’ of 21st century living. Supersize also regularly occurs as an adjective, with a common variant supersized.

V is for….

vlog noun [countable] COMPUTING
a WEBLOG (= a personal website that frequently has new information added to it) that contains mainly video

A contraction of video blog/weblog. Just like the old adage, pictures speak louder than words, and web commentary is now frequently embellished by video material. A variation on the same theme which is also now widely used is phlog (photo blog), but this is yet to be officially recorded.

VoIP noun [uncountable] COMPUTING
voice over Internet protocol: a technology that allows voice messages to be sent over the Internet

Making phone calls over the Internet is becoming increasingly popular as it proves to be a much cheaper alternative to mobiles and conventional telephony.

W is for….

wi-fi COMPUTING
a set of standards for WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORKS . Any wi-fi product can be used with any other wi-fi product.

There was a time when, if we wanted to use the Internet, we were restricted to being within so many metres of a power socket and telephone cable, but no more. Wi-fi, short for wireless fidelity, is a system for sending data over computer networks using radio waves rather than wires.

X is for….

xenotransplant noun
1 [countable/uncountable] MEDICAL: a TRANSPLANT operation in which a part of an animal’s body is put into a person’s body
2 [countable] an animal organ that is put into a person’s body as a TRANSPLANT xenotransplantation noun [uncountable]

Recent medical advances in dealing with transplant organ rejection mean that xenotransplantation is now being seriously considered as a potential solution to the worldwide shortage of donor organs.

For more information about new and topical words and phrases, read Kerry's Word of the Week articles on the MED Resource Site.