OMG! The OED [Hearts] A Few New Words

March 25, 2011 -- OMG, the Oxford English Dictionary has announced its latest updates!

The authoritative reference book -- the final word on words -- has announced that it has updated its online edition with 1,900 revisions and adds from across the dictionary. New additions include such digitally-driven abbreviations such as OMG -- Internet shorthand for "Oh my God'" or "Oh my Gosh" -- LOL, "laughing out loud"; IMHO "in my humble opinion"; and BFF, "best friends forever."

One might be tempted to exclaim WTF? (And if you don't know what that stands for, you can look it up: it was included in the 2009 updates.)

"Technology has been one of the biggest drivers of new vocabulary for centuries," Jesse Sheidlower, editor at large for the O.E.D., told ABC News.

"The proportion of words that entered the English language from 1750 to 1760 is almost exactly the same as words that entered the language from 1950 to 1960," he added. "You look around and you have new laptops and new cell phones today. One hundred fifty years ago we had new trains and new steam engines."

Also included in the updates is a new usage of an old word: heart. Taken from the symbol <3, to "heart" something is to love it. (Suggested usage: "I heart the fact that this is in the O.E.D.") The symbol itself, however, did not make it into the dictionary, as reported elsewhere.

Other words that are new to the dictionary are food-based slang, such as "flat white" -- a type of coffee drink -- and the expression "muffin top," an evocative description for the "protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers."

Popular culture, explained Sheidlower, is another major driver of new vocabulary. But the dictionary's editors insist they are hardly indiscriminate. Once a word makes it in, it is never removed even if it becomes antiquated -- the purpose of the O.E.D. is to exist as a comprehensive, living history of the language.

"If we really thought a word would vanish, we'd hold off [including it] for a while," said Sheidlower. "Year after year there are tons of new Internet terms -- slang or terms from text messaging -- that we may not use for more than a few months."