Oxford Dictionaries has added 300 new words to its officially recognized collection, including millennial favorites such as “yas,” “cat lady” and “squad goals.”
The online reference guide often updates its language to reflect the vocabulary of the times, and this expansion was no exception. In a blog post, Oxford noted that many of the new words are popular terms in food, fitness and party culture, such as the Thai dish “pad kee mao,” “fitspo” and “drunk text,” respectively.
Here’s a selection from the latest update, according to the Oxford blog post:
cat lady noun: An older woman who lives alone with a large number of cats, to which she is thought to be obsessively devoted.
craptacular adjective: Remarkably poor or disappointing.
drink the haterade phrase: Indulge in excessively negative, critical, or resentful behavior.
drop bear noun: A mythical marsupial resembling a koala, said to live in trees and attack people by dropping on to their heads from above.
drunk text noun: A text message sent while drunk, typically one that is embarrassing or foolish.
femslash noun: A genre of fiction, chiefly published online, in which female characters who appear together in film, television, or other popular media are portrayed as having a sexual relationship.
fitspo noun: Short for fitspiration, a person or thing that serves as motivation for someone to sustain or improve health and fitness.
freecycle verb: Give away (something used or unwanted), as opposed to selling it or throwing it away, especially in an arrangement made via the Internet.
frita noun: (in Cuban cuisine) a sandwich consisting of a fried cake of seasoned pork and beef that is topped with very thinly cut chips and served in a roll.
herd mentality noun: The tendency for people’s behavior or beliefs to conform to those of the group to which they belong.
jelly adjective: Jealous
meet-cute noun: (in a film or television program) an amusing or charming first encounter between two characters that leads to the development of a romantic relationship between them.
otherize verb: View or treat (a person or group of people) as intrinsically different from and alien to oneself.
otherkin adjective: Denoting or relating to people who identify as non-human.
sausage party noun: An event or group in which the majority of participants are male.
screencast noun: A video recording or transmission of the data displayed on the screen of a computer or mobile device, typically with accompanying audio.
shoestring fries noun: French fries sliced extremely thinly.
smishing noun: The fraudulent practice of sending text messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords or credit card numbers.
squad goals noun: Used in reference to a person or thing seen as a model to aspire to or emulate, especially with one’s friends (often as a hashtag in social media).
third gender noun: A category of people who do not identify as male or female, but rather as neither, both, or a combination of male and female genders.
yas exclamation: Expressing great pleasure or excitement.
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