New Words In English
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Work on the Oxford English Dictionary began in the 1880s and was published finally in 1928. Now the complete OED online will debut this December. It's considered the ultimate source of lexicography.
But new words are always entering English, among them: through borrowing, ballet from the French; through shortening, flu from influenza; compounding as in chat room; breakfast and lunch becomes brunch; imitation sounds like click and tingle; from names to google; transfer like maverick, the named after a famed cattleman, among others.
Connie Eble, a linguist at the University of North Carolina, who has asked her students since 1972 to compile lists of slang they encounter in everyday situations, is highlighted in a recent article in the International Herald Tribune. This year rando is popular, referring to an unfamiliar, suspicious or anxiety producing outsider.
Think about recent new words like tweet, road rage, flash mob and carjacking and listen for young people's made up words. When you hear a woman describe a guy as skeasy, you'll know she won't be seeing him again!
Reported By Dr. Marciene Mattleman, KYW Newsradio
