Oxford English Dictionary: OMG Muffin Top LOL

The Oxford English dictionary the premiere of the English language, two additions have been published in 1928 and 1989, and did you know that it is the longest official dictionary according to the Guiness book of world records? No me neither, being from Newcastle in England I did not really pay that much attention in school, yeah I know what the English dictionary is and I have perused the pages on occasion but to be honest when they start to get into a word that means this that and the other I tended to loose interest.

This of course does not mean that I am stupid, I may not be the best at spelling and grammar, but hey I don't claim to be either. I came across some things today about the English dictionary that I found quite amusing, they have added the words Muffin Top, OMG (Oh My God) and LOL (Laugh Out Loud) to the English dictionary, and naturally being a hubber I thought I have to write something about that. So here goes.

For me when you think of the good old English Dictionary you think all proper lade de da tea, cake and biscuits. You know proper words that people who attended Oxford and Cambridge University use on a regular basis to impress their chums down at the rowing club. No, well maybe that’s just where I am from, who knows?

So they are going to add the word OMG, in their newest 600,000 word addition of the dictionary and they have, as always made sure the word or acronym is worth adding. They have decided that OMG short for “Oh My God” should be added as it is text friendly speak in today’s modern digital world, they say the word or words help to say more about media and fit in with the limited characters people have when posting to Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. It turns out the word is not even that new Oxford researchers have found that the use of OMG dates back to 1917.

Also to be added to the dictionary is LOL, yes that’s right "Laugh out Loud" is now part of the official English Dictionary. This word is also another that is new to us kids but not new to the English language and researchers believe it dates back to 1960, though in them days it meant “Little Old Lady”. The use of the acronym now is suggested by Oxford to mean “informal, gossipy mode of expression”. So are we all going to continue LOL-ing?

Another word from the modern English language is Muffin Top. The phrase has been used for a long time now, though I have never referred to anyone as a muffin top and I’m English. The words were used in an episode of Seinfeld and refer to the roll of fat that comes over someone’s trousers. Personally where I’m from we call that a spare tyre. But according to the Oxford English Dictionary it means “a roll of fat visible above the top of women’s tight fitting low-waisted trousers”. Now I am the last one to refer to political correctness especially to people from the University of Oxford, but is that not a bit sexist? Some guys could quite easily fall into this category too.

Now like I say I am in no position to criticise, and in fact I’m not criticising.  I think things like this should be brought in line with the modern world of media, especially now as children do most of their school work on computers and many of them chat among friends on social networking sites. So hey Wassup with the Oxford English Dictionary?