BillF Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 A British news item today has been words appearing for the first time in a new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/28/omnishambles-new-words-oxford-dictionaries http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10270160/Take-a-selfie-while-twerking-If-you-dont-know-what-this-means-youre-a-linguistic-luddite.html I'm wondering how many of these are shared with/already current in the US. My daughter, who works for an American company in London, uses "expense" as a verb, as in "I can expense this", meaning "I can claim this on expenses". Is this usage current in the US? I've never heard it before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 My daughter, who works for an American company in London, uses "expense" as a verb, as in "I can expense this", meaning "I can claim this on expenses". Is this usage current in the US? I've never heard it before.Yes, common in business circles. There are several more eggregious nouns-to-verbs, but I'm blanking on them now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 My favorite (or "favourite"), which I actually encountered in London, is "face flannel" for washcloth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Train Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 My daughter, who works for an American company in London, uses "expense" as a verb, as in "I can expense this", meaning "I can claim this on expenses". Is this usage current in the US? I've never heard it before. Yes, common in business circles. There are several more eggregious nouns-to-verbs, but I'm blanking on them now. I have heard "I can expense this" used as a comment, or question. There is a whole list of them and a long history of it happening. Even verbs-to-nouns. http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/ideas/anthony-gardner/youve-been-verbed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danasgoodstuff Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 When we lived in Australian, many years ago, my mom was looking for toothpicks but nobody knew what the heck she was talkin' 'bout...she finally found them and when she brought them up to the counter the clerk said "If you wanted sandwich flags why didn't you say so?"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownian Motion Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 It was noted today in the NYT that the online Oxford Dictionary has just added a passel of new words--words like "twerk" twerk Pronunciation: /twəːk/ verb [no object] informal Dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance:just wait till they catch their daughters twerking to this song. Usage: twerk it girl, work it girl Origin: (1990s) probably an alteration of work http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/oxford-dictionaries-online-adds-selfie-emoji-and-other-tech-oriented-terms/?hp The culture is leaving me back at the station. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 I still can't get past a "rubber" meaning an eraser. And water closet? I prefer to flush my daily duty down the drain, myself. I have no interest in keeping it in a closet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Skid Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 I find that taking the "wheelie bin" out on Thursday evenings is so much more fun and glamorous than just taking out the trash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 The article doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. How is "chandelier earrings" a new word? That's two words, if I'm counting correctly, neither of which is new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 (edited) No mentions of 'fanny packs' yet in this thread? Or 'knocking someone up in the morning'? I've seen North Americans reduced to jibbering wrecks with the mention of that phrase. And as for someone being a 'hose head'. Still conjours up images for me of a guy with a water hose for a head. Edited August 29, 2013 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 Has the OED redefined awesome as meaning quite nice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 I think we could all use: "TL:DR (too long, didn't read: used as a dismissive response to a lengthy online post, or to introduce a summary of a lengthy post)" a lot more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted August 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 No mentions of 'fanny packs' yet in this thread? Or 'knocking someone up in the morning'? I've seen North Americans reduced to jibbering wrecks with the mention of that phrase. We won't mention "keep your pecker up". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 A British news item today has been words appearing for the first time in a new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/28/omnishambles-new-words-oxford-dictionaries http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10270160/Take-a-selfie-while-twerking-If-you-dont-know-what-this-means-youre-a-linguistic-luddite.html I'm wondering how many of these are shared with/already current in the US. My daughter, who works for an American company in London, uses "expense" as a verb, as in "I can expense this", meaning "I can claim this on expenses". Is this usage current in the US? I've never heard it before. I've never heard it before either, but then I don't move in business circles and I still think using "impact" as a verb is a sin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Google it. [yet another noun which has become a verb] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjb Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Has the OED redefined awesome as meaning quite nice? I had almost given up railing against this one. You give an old man hope. (and Hope is none too pleased) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swinging Swede Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 "Transition" as a verb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted O'Reilly Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Have adverbs become extinct? It's been years since I've heard one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 (edited) Has the OED redefined awesome as meaning quite nice? I had almost given up railing against this one. You give an old man hope. (and Hope is none too pleased) The kids in the school I work in have been using it for some time. In the last year I noticed its use by younger members of staff! I do my fogeyish bit with them. I blame American High School movies (interesting the way that British kids have picked up on a lot of that argot but use it in a highly ironic American accent). Edited August 31, 2013 by A Lark Ascending Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 Has the OED redefined awesome as meaning quite nice? I had almost given up railing against this one. You give an old man hope. (and Hope is none too pleased) The kids in the school I work in have been using it for some time. In the last year I noticed its use by younger members of staff! I do my fogeyish bit with them. I blame American High School movies (interesting the way that British kids have picked up on a lot of that argot but use it in a highly ironic American accent). On the topic of awesome, the Book of Mormon is awesome! I guess it just made it over to London's West End. I would recommend seeing it, though perhaps not at those prices... Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that many of the songs include the word "awesome" used much as an American teenager would use it. Indeed, the first two use it this way. Here are the first few lines of "Hello" (the opening number): Hello! My name is Elder Price And I would like to share with you the most amazing book Hello! My name is Elder Grant It's a book about America a long, long time ago It has so many awesome parts You simply won't believe how much this book can change your life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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