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E in the latest edition of the Chambers Dictionary. The somewhat irritating expression, short for “oh my God”, is joined by a whole raft of “new” words said to be reflective of modern Britain. In a move which may horrify traditionalists, the century-old reference guide has also adopted “BFF”, a term popularised by celebrity heiress Paris Hilton meaning “best friend forever”. And those bored of using the word “mates” might consider “bromance”, the new trendy way of referring to friendship between men. A quarter of the new words are derived from the internet – while others come from street slang, rap music and text speak. Editors believe the new word list provides a vivid portrait of the English language today – an assertion that may cause alarm to some. One of the more bizarre “additions” to the English language is “meh”, which is apparently now an official “expression of indifference”. And for those lucky enough to have lots of friends on social networking site Facebook, they can now “defriend” and “unfriend” while safe in the knowledge that these are both now linguistically-recognised actions. David Swarbrick, managing director at Chambers, said many of the new words had been derived from youth culture. He said, “I think young people are probably the most creative agents for new words because they’re not held back by convention. Young people are the real artists of the language and a dictionary should reflect that. This is why we would, for example, put in words such as ‘bromance’, because we feel there is widespread use of these.” As the internet revolution marches briskly on, phrases like “crowdsourcing” – using the web to mobilise large groups of people – are apparently now entering our daily vocabulary. There are also references to our global struggle with weight-gain – also known as “globesity” – with the introduction of size “XXL”. Mr Swarbrick added, “What this new set of words does is define the country. It’s a portrait of the country over the last few years. It’s critical because every new generation needs to see the impact that they have made in society. Different generations make different impacts. We are only at the very beginning of this decade. It will be interesting to see how it evolves.” The Chambers Dictionary was first published in Scotland in 1901, with the aim of bringing dictionaries to everyone – no matter their background, or occupation. New words are added every few years, but authors say they very rarely delete older ones, even if they appear to be archaic. (Eleanor Harding, MailOnline ; adapted and abridged) 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 0 What do some people say about word creations like OMG? a) They are easy to forget. b) They have to be included in civilised language. c) They aren’t really new. d) They are typical for the way English people talk nowadays. ✘ 1 What does the word “meh” mean? a) Someone is unconcerned about something. b) Someone has seen something extremely bizarre. c) Someone feels alarmed by something. d) Someone wants to point out a difference. 2 Why does David Swarbrick consider young people to have the biggest influence on language? a) Because they make fun of conventions creatively. b) Because many of them are artists. c) Because they are not restricted by traditions. d) Because they are most affected by the internet revolution. 3 Why does David Swarbrick think it’s so important to show the development of language? a) Because it is a global phenomenon. b) Because people should see the influence they have on it. c) Because some people have adopted a rather critical view on the issue. d) Because it is a process that has only gone on over the last few years. 4 How often are words removed from the dictionary? a) As soon as they are considered archaic. b) This doesn’t happen normally. c) Every few years old words are deleted. d) Since 1901 not a single word has been taken out. 148 Exam preparation Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv