Vape, selfie and the words that define us
Much ado follows Oxford’s annual announcement because new words reflect cultural and political shifts. In the 1950s, for example, words and phrases associated with the Cold War slipped into the lexicon.
Today, if you know a new word, consider yourself a hipster. If you don't, oh well. Here are the last five words to win the honor:
2014
Vape: After years of being banished to parking lots and sidewalks, smokers have finally found a way to mingle with the anti-smoking crowd. The popularity of electronic cigarettes inspired increasing use of the word vape. Oxford defines the word this way: “to inhale and exhale the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device.” The associated noun is vaping.
2013
Selfie: The word selfie swiftly worked its way into the vocabulary of anyone with a camera cellphone (and these days, that’s just about everyone). Even Pope Francis posed for a selfie with a group of teenagers visiting the Vatican. President Barack Obama has posed for selfies too. The Oxford blog explained that while other words were considered, selfie was the runaway winner.
2012
GIF: The blog classified this as a verb, meaning, “to create a GIF file of (an image or video sequence, especially relating to an event).” The term wasn’t new. It had been around for 25 years but had never been trendier, an Oxford spokeswoman explained.
2011
Squeezed middle: Ah, the struggling economy. If painful, at least it gave us a few good terms. Oxford chose squeezed middle -- the segment of society particularly hard hit by wage freezes, inflation and cuts to public spending – as its choice in 2011.
2010
Refudiate: Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, apparently thought this should have been a word. Palin used it on social media – an odd mix of repudiate and refute. Taking the matter seriously, Oxford writers concluded, “neither ‘refute’ nor ‘repudiate’ seems consistently precise ... “refudiate” more or less stands on its own, suggesting a general sense of ‘reject.’”
Related:
Four phrases associated with the Cold War
