OMG, don’t LOL but Wag is now in the dictionary
Published at 11:28, Thursday, 24 March 2011
OMG – our language is changing. Whether it’s textspeak, slang, or simply new words for new things, the way we talk and write constantly evolves. Real versionCumbrian Version
Evidence arrives this week with the new version of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) – freshly updated with 45,437 new words and meanings.
In this digital age new words can travel the world in seconds, but they need a bit of staying power to earn a place in the OED.
“Because we are quite cautious about adding new terms, we need a word to have led a bit of a life before we write its biography,” explains Graeme Diamond, OED’s principal editor of new words.
“We tend to have been tracking new words for a considerable period before we publish them for the first time.”
So what does our new vocabulary say about us and our times?
“The only real trend is one which has been true at every point in the language’s history: new words reflect the concerns of the world at large.
“One could point to increasing familiarity with economic vocabulary, like credit crunch and double-dip, in the light of the downturn.
“But this would have been equally true in 1931 in the wake of the great depression.”
Some words, such as Wag, make a speedy journey from creation to common use. Wag makes its dictionary debut this week, along with other new entries like dot bomb and muffin top.
In the week of the OED’s reincarnation, Twitter celebrates its fifth birthday. Diamond says its impact on language is limited, so far.
“The kind of language change initiated by Twitter, including using abbreviations to save on time and word count is at present largely specific to the context of writing on such sites.
“But English is a tolerant and hardy beast which has always absorbed new forms of expression from whatever source. Social networking is only one of many currently at work.”
A banner over the entrance to Trinity School sixth form reads ‘Language of the Month – Mandarin Chinese.’
I cross the threshold wondering whether Mandarin Chinese might be easier to understand than the version of English spoken by today’s teenagers.
I’m at this Carlisle secondary school to see how much of 21st-century youngsters’ speech will be found in the Oxford English Dictionary and how much is too local, too slangy or too new to be officially recognised.
Headteacher Alan Mottershead has assembled a group of lower-sixth-form students to chew through the issues.
First: text speak... what on earth is that about?
I learn that ‘LOL’ means ‘laughs out loud’ rather than ‘lots of love’. No potential for awkward misunderstandings there, then.
The many other abbreviations include TBH (To Be Honest), ATM (At The Moment) and my new favourite: CBA (Can’t Be A***d.)
“These are more written down than said,” explains Andi Menzies. “You never use it in speech. If you do, you’re mocking people who say it.”
They are all familiar with Cumbrian dialect.
“Different places have different words for stuff,” says Dale Callaghan. “Mint is a very Cumbrian thing.”
Ah! I know this one – mint means... mint. That stuff they use to make chewing gum taste minty.
Oh dear. Mint now means good, nice, cool. I must have missed that meeting.
Dale says: “I remember going to Manchester once and someone said something was sick. I said ‘No it isn’t.’ But it meant cool.
“Words can mean different things in different contexts. Like radge. It means good and bad, depending on the context you’re in.”
What about some words for bad or awful?
“It depends what kind of awful. Mank, minging, rank, rancid.”
Some old favourites are still going strong. ‘Bar’ for a pound. ‘Marra’ for a friend. ‘Cowie’ for absolutely anything at all. (I love cowie. I want a News & Star campaign to include it in the next edition of the OED).
I am relieved to learn that ‘shan’ is still in use for embarrassment. I throw in a word I’ve heard but never quite understood: ladgeful?
The young ’uns chortle. This is similar to shan, but less commonly used. I feel rather ladgeful.
“I think a lot of older people use dialect,” says Andi.
But she knows a word or two herself.
“If I say ‘There’s a scrow in your room’, are we on familiar territory?” asks Mr Mottershead.
We are. She knows that ‘scrow’ means ‘mess’. If only that lot at the OED were as well informed.
“Would you ever use words like that yourself?” Patrick Wilson asks her.
“I would with my friends but not with my teachers.”
They agree that there are two kinds of language: for public and private life.
Patrick mentions a new word: ‘scoops’, meaning drinks.
He’s excited to have created a new meaning for a familiar word. I don’t have the heart to say that my friend Jonny was using scoops in the same context 20 years ago.
How are words created? Maybe they can make up their own. They’ve been studying Leon Trostsky and are trying to introduce the word ‘Trotskyed’, for drunk.
Do we still need dictionaries in this digital age?
They think so.
“But,” says Andi, “the second they publish it, it’s out of date.”
Nicole Sorlie is in Trinity School’s upper sixth form.
“I think LOL has already fitted into spoken language, although I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. People say it’s dumbing down.
“I don’t know if it should be in the dictionary but it’s still something that people use.
“Maybe it should be in the dictionary because people use it.
“I think people say ‘LOL’ to make fun of how ridiculous saying it is. Some people, if something is funny they’ll say LOL instead of laughing. Which is a bit silly I think.”
Downstairs Mr Mottershead shows me the even-younger generation: the 11- and 12-year-olds of Class 7EJO.
What non-dictionary words do they use?
They offer a mixture of the new and the traditional.
Marra. Charver. Wonga. Boyo.
WUUT (What you up to?)
NM: Not much.
TY: Thank You.
And ‘moist’ has apparently taken on the meaning ‘good’.
Weird. Intriguing.
Bamboozling.
That’s words for you.
Alan Butler is in no doubt at all: “Thyvel.” The question was: Which word would you like to see in the updated Oxford English Dictionary?
And Alan is very much a thyvel fan.
“It’s a stick for stirring your porridge,” he explains to anyone who may not have known this already.
“At one time no self-respecting Cumbrian would go out without his thyvel.”
The updated OED includes hundreds of new entries which reflect the changing world.
But Alan feels we ought to be paying more attention to the past, and to the “rich historical and cultural heritage” which is Cumbrian dialect.
Alan set up Miner’s Lamp Theatre Company in 2001 with his wife Eleanor to promote the dialect.
No surprise, then, that he would also like to see ‘marra’ in the OED. It turns out that this west Cumbrian word has an interesting origin.
“You don’t get a more Cumbrian word than marra. All we knew is that it was brought in from the north east and it was a word for pit pony. The miners regarded the pit ponies as their friends so marra became a word for a friend.
“Quite recently I found out that in old Norse mythology a mara, with one r, was a spirit of bad dreams, from which we get nightmare.”
Alan’s research has drawn plenty of lines from Vikings to Cumbrians. “Cumbria has a huge Norse influence. A lot of Cumbrian dialect is very similar to Norwegian. In Cumbrian dialect ‘clas’ is clothes. The Norwegian for clothes is ‘kles’.
“The Oxford English Dictionary wants to promote a standard form of English. Well you could argue that the standard form of English grew out of Anglo-Saxon. There were all kinds of influences.
“They should put in words from different language roots to show the richness of the language.
“Take the word ‘English’. English is named after the Angles. Where do the Angles come from? Denmark.”
There is an argument that future dictionaries will lose many dialect words as language becomes standardised through people in all parts of the country consuming the same TV, film and radio.
“I think we could use those media to unstandardise language,” says Alan. “You could put up all different language variations, if necessary with subtitles.
“It’s been done before. I’ve just come across The Fairy Caravan by Beatrix Potter. It’s written in Cumbrian dialect, with a glossary.”
Brush up your vocabulary with some of the OED’s new words
Dot bomb – An internet company which has become bankrupt or ceased to operate; a failed or unsuccessful dotcom.
Ego-surfing – the practice of searching the internet for mentions of one’s own name.
Muffin top – A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers.
Non-dom – Short for non-domiciled, refers to a person living in a country in which he or she is not legally domiciled, usually in order to accrue tax advantages.
Ooh na na, what’s my name
Ooh na na, what’s my name
Ooh na na, what’s my name
Ooh na na, what’s my name
Ooh na na, what’s my name
What’s my name, what’s my name
I heard you good with them soft lips
Yeah you know word of mouth
The square root of 69 is 8 something
Cuz I’ve been tryna work it out, oooow
Good weed, white wine
I come alive in the night time
Okay, away we go
Only thing we have on is the radio
Ooooh, let it play, say you gotta leave
But I know you wanna stay
You just waiting on the track to finish girl
The things we could do in twenty minutes girl
Say my name, say my name
Wear it out, its getting hot, crack a window, air it out
I can get you through a mighty long day
Soon as I go the text you gon right is gon say…
Not everybody knows how to work my body
Knows how to make me want it
Boy you stay up on it
You got that something that keeps me so off balance
Baby you’re a challenge, lets explore your talent
[Chorus]
Hey boy I really wanna see if you can go downtown with a girl like me
Hey boy, I really wanna be with you
Cause you just my type
Ooh na na na na
I need a boy to really take it over
Looking for a girl to put you over
Oooooh, oooooh
Oh aye eh, Me nem’s wat?
Oh aye eh, Me nem’s wat?
Oh aye eh, Me nem’s wat?
Oh aye eh, Me nem’s wat?
Oh aye eh, Me nem’s wat?
Me nem’s wat? Me nem’s wat?
I was telt yer barry wid yer soft mush
Aye tha knaa’s crack
Is t’square root o’ 69 8 or somet
Coz Aa’s tried t’ wuk it out, oooow
Some barry weed eh, Kaleyed
Aa’s in fine fettle at neet
Reet, awez wid ya
Nee cowie on but radio like
Ooooh, lark aboot, crack is yer gan anywez
But I know yer wanna kip ower
Yer just dossing aboot til that song ends lass
Crack we could get up til in twenny minutes lass
Say ma name, ma nem, say ma nem
Wear it oot, its getting wam like, brek a winder, air it oot
I can get you through a gay lang day
Soon as I’m gan, the text yer gonna reet’s gonna say
Nee-yan else knows how til wuk me body
n’ Knows how til mek us want a sow
Ere chore, you git it up
Yer got somet ‘at meks us cowp ower
Babby yer hard wuk, lets fin oot how barry y’ar
[Chorus]
Here chore I really wanna deeks if you can gan te town wid a lass like us
Here chore, I really wanna be wid ya
Coz yer jus reet cowie
Oh aye eh aye eh
I reet need some chore to tek it ower
Deeksing for sum lass te cowp y’ower
Oooooh, oooooh
What’s My Name copyright Stargate: Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen. Cumbrian version courtesy of Fiona Goldie
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk
