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Oxford University Press Updates ODO To Include Conversational Lingo

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In an attempt to keep up with the present-day conversational lingo, the Oxford University Press has included some of the Internet slangs in 'Oxford English Dictionaries Online' (ODO) including 'selfie,' 'twerk,' 'phablet,' 'emoji,' 'TL; DR' and 'srsly' among others.

The ODO, updated very frequently, has also recently introduced text-speak acronyms like OMG and LOL.

Selfie (n, informal) is used to describe an individual who takes a photo of himself with a smartphone or webcam and posts it on a social media website. The word might have become popular with the introduction of the social network site 'MySpace.com.'

Twerk (v) might be the most used word online after pop star Miley Cyrus's performance at the recently held MTV Video Music Awards. The word refers to dancing to a popular music in a sexually provocative manner that features thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance.

Phablet (n) is referred to a smartphone whose screen size is something between a typical smartphone and a tablet computer.

TL; DR, the acronym of 'too long; didn't read' is normally used online to describe a long text post. The acronym can be used to either express sarcasm or in honesty.

Srsly is an acronym for seriously.

 "New words, senses, and phrases are added to Oxford Dictionaries Online when we have gathered enough independent evidence from a range of sources to be confident that they have widespread currency in English. Portmanteau words, or blends of words, such as phablet and jorts, remain popular, as do abbreviations, seen in new entries such as srsly and apols," said Angus Stevenson, Oxford Dictionaries Online.

"Each month, we add about 150 million words to our corpus database of English usage examples collected from sources around the world. We use this database to track and verify new and emerging words and senses on a daily basis," Stevenson said.

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