So, how many times you have caught your mom writing something like 'RIP Fluffy! LOL'. Mom, LOL is not 'Lots of Love'. But never
mind, now you just have to direct her to Oxford English Dictionary. The dictionary's new edition is now live with 1,900 revised entries. It also has added a number of new words including FYI, LOL, OMG and the symbol for heart. Yes, you read it right, ♥ is there in the new dictionary.
Oxford English Dictionary constantly updates itself and had long been adding popular informal words to its repository. It already includes words like 'sexting' and 'BFF'. The dictionary however goes a step further and delves into the history of words. You would be surprised to know that the first documented use of OMG dates back to 1917. And you will also be thankful that your mom does not use 'LOL' for 'Little Old Lady', since that's how the acronym was used way back in 1960.
As expected, the new edition has met with their fair share of criticism. You will meet hoards of people bemoaning the addition of webspeak to the highly regarded dictionary. However, language, like everything else, is constantly evolving and the additions of these words to the dictionary are a great way of documenting that process. And in any case, since these words are so widely used now that it is better to include them in the dictionary to avoid gaffes like 'RIP Fluffy, LOL'. And if standard dictionaries do not move with the time, there's always UrbanDictionary to take their place. Although, that would be a truly an 'OMG' situation.
One thought on “FYI, OMG Is in the Oxford English Dictionary Now! LOL”
This is only a matter of style. Everyone knows that even such famous writers as Shakespeare made up new words or mixed the existing ones and used the modifications in their books, which later became part of the national treasure.