Hot Mess, Fo’Shizzle, Twerk and More Now in Oxford Dictionary

I'm such a hot mess, how will I ever be able to twerk? I'll learn, fo'shizzle.

The Oxford English Dictionary has released more updates in our always expanding vocabulary.

Announced on June 25, 2015, nearly 500 new words and over 900 newly revised and updated words have been added. There are also over 2400 new senses of existing words added.

The fabulous booty shaking dance craze, the twerk, has been added to the dictionary. Turns out the word 'twerk' has a long history in the English language:

The use of twerk to describe a type of dancing which emphasizes the performer’s posterior has its roots in the early 1990s in the New Orleans ‘bounce’ music scene, but the word itself seems to originate from more than 170 years before that.

It was in use in English as a noun by 1820 (originally spelled ‘twirk’) referring to ‘a twisting or jerking movement; a twitch’. Its use as a verb emerged a couple of decades later, in 1848, and the ‘twerk’ spelling had come about by 1901. The precise origin of the word is uncertain, but it may be a blend of twist or twitch and jerk, with influence from the nounquirk and from work (v.) in reference to the dance.

Here are a few of the newest to be added:

e-cigarette (noun): A cigarette-shaped device containing a nicotine-based liquid or other substance that is vaporized and inhaled, used to simulate the experience of smoking. [2007]

voluntourism (noun): Tourism in which travellers spend time doing voluntary work on development projects, usually for a charity. [1991]

hyperlocal (adjective): Extremely or excessively local. [1900] 

meh (interjection): This interjection, expressing indifference or a lack of enthusiasm, was probably popularized by the cartoon series The Simpsons, but it was already in use online by 1992 – two years before it was used in the programme.

hot mess (noun): A hot mess referred to ‘a warm meal, especially one served to a group’ in 1818, but now it is more commonly used as a slang term for something or someone in extreme confusion or disorder. The OED’s earliest quotation for this usage dates from 1899 in the Monthly Journal of the International Association of Machinists: “Verily, I say unto you, the public is a hot mess.”

lipstick (noun): In the world of darts, this is a slang term for the treble twenty on a dartboard. [2003]

fo’ shizzle (adjective): This slang term originated in the language of rap and hip-hop and means ‘for sure’. [2001]

fratty (adjective): Of or relating to a college fraternity; typical or characteristic of such a fraternity or its members, especially with reference to rowdy behaviour. [1898] 

twitterati (noun): Users of the social networking service Twitter collectively, typically referring to the group of prolific contributors or those who have high numbers of followers. [2006]

webisode (noun): A short video, especially an instalment in a drama or comedy series, which is presented online rather than being broadcast on television. [1996]

SCOTUS (noun): (The) Supreme Court of the United States. [1879]

FLOTUS (noun): (The) First Lady of the United States. [1983]

Ah, Oxford English Dictionary... you never disappoint.