4/5/2023 0 Comments Another word for overview![]() ![]() We don’t include words just because we’ve seen one example of them we have to wait for evidence of general currency to build up in our computer files before we start putting the word in the dictionary. It’s an enormous issue, but one which we just about manage to keep under control. In the old days they used to write them out on index cards when they came across some in books, but nowadays they tend to type them onto their computers and send them into the central computer here. How do you keep up with the huge weight of new words you must have to evaluate? Well, it’s not just me, we’ve got something like 60 editors working on the Oxford dictionary and we also have readers and word spotters throughout the world who are sending us information in. ![]() So really words come from, they come from the playground, they come from politics, they come from any area of life because every area of life is changing from day to day. Going back in time the First and Second World Wars were times of great creativity of language because people from different countries met each other and exchanged their words and words developed from there. If there’s a military conflict that may well bring all sorts of new words to the fore. And where do these new words and phrases come from? Well, words come out of the culture that they represent and they describe so if you’ve got a new development in medicine, for example bird flu, then you’ll get a new word coming out of that. Any other favourites, John?Some of those rather unpleasant words like splod, somebody who is socially inept, a splody person, but as I said I don’t really have favourite words because all words as far as I’m concerned are objects of scientific study. John, what’s your favourite new word at the moment? Really I don't have favourite new words, but let’s say that one of my favourite new words is screenager, which is a young person or a teenager who spends a lot of time in front of the computer. If you want to know what words like screenager and splod mean, the man to ask is John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. ![]() But where do all these new words come from? Our reporter Mark has been finding out. New words enter the English language all the time, in fact English has always been in a state of evolution and in recent years more and more words and phrases have entered the language, partly due to the increased willingness of lexicographers to include them in the dictionaries. In the next few minutes we’re going to be talking about new words and phrases. Hello and welcome to Trend UK, your shortcut to popular culture from the British Council. ![]()
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