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LOL. OMG. La-la Land Added to Oxford Dictionary
photo by sean bonner via CC license
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Hah! The Oxford Dictionary got all hot with acronyms AND decided to take a swipe at our fine metropolis in the latest update to its bible of acceptable words and modern-day definitions.Setting the record straight once and for all and undoubtedly breaking the hearts of lovers of lollipops the world over, Oxford Dictionaries verified that LOL does indeed stand for "laughing out loud."
It's incredible to imagine but employees at Oxford Dictionaries somehow decided that 1,900 definitions required revisions and 175 new words and tweet-friendly acronyms were added to the dictionary's famed pages.
“The intention is usually to signal an informal, gossipy mode of expression, and perhaps parody the level of unreflective enthusiasm or overstatement that can sometimes appear in online discourse, while at the same time marking oneself as an ‘insider’ au fait with the forms of expression associated with the latest technology.”
That's according to OED editor Graeme Diamond. But that doesn't explain the addition of la-la land.
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"la-la land n. can refer either to Los Angeles (in which case its etymology is influenced by the common initialism for that city), or to a state of being out of touch with reality—and sometimes to both simultaneously," wrote another one of OED's finest, Katherine Connor Martin.
At least the Oxford Dictionary has not yet added "southland," misappropriating Lynyrd Skynyrd's sweet home for ours, as so many local TV meteorologists do.
We have some faves from the update: ♥ to heart (v.) (though we're awaiting verification on the less than three [<3] mod). Also: OMG, ego-surf, muffin top, meep, party-crasher, runathon.
OED does redeem itself, as it always does but this time with a shocking graphic illustrating the popularity of the "F-word" over the course of February 2011. Check it out:
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February 28th was the day after Oscar Sunday, hence the spike in F-word searches. Thank you Melissa Leo!
It's OMGWTFBBQ time! Who's got the LMAONADE?
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