Boo! More words are in the dictionary. But some of them might be annoying.
The Cambridge Dictionary added more than 3,200 words this year, including some Gen Z slang that some people may find ageing.
Language is constantly evolving, and some slang words and words often disappear from people’s dialects, but Wendalyn Nicholls, publishing manager at Cambridge Dictionaries, told the BBC that these new additions have “staying power”.
In recent years, new terms have become popular online and in youth culture. Gen Z terms currently listed in the dictionary include:
Discomfort
Made famous by the reality TV show Love Island, an “ick” is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “a sudden feeling of disliking someone or something, or no longer being attracted to them because of someone’s behaviour.”
The dictionary gives the example of “give someone the ick” in the following sentence: “I liked Kevin, but when I saw him in that suit I was disgusted.”
The word “ick”, made popular by the reality TV show Love Island, has been added to the dictionary. ITV/Shutterstock
Boop
If you’re an avid watcher of Schitt’s Creek, you’ve probably already added the word “boop” to your vocabulary thanks to Alexis Rose.
A “boop” is a term of endearment and is defined as “a gentle tap or touch on the nose or head of a person or animal as an expression of affection or in jest.”
For example, “Boop is a game of poking someone’s nose, often accompanied by the saying ‘Boooo!'”
translation
This commonly used acronym has been in the dictionary forever and means “to know, to know.”
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the expression is “used, for example on social media or in text messages, to indicate that there is a joke or knowledge shared with the reader that others may not understand.”
Face Journey
Someone’s facial journey is a series of expressions as they react to something in real time.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as: “A range of facial expressions that show the range of emotions experienced in response to something.”
In recent years, these new additions have become popular online and in youth culture. Antonio Diaz – stock.adobe.com
Chef’s kiss
A new addition to the lexicon is the “chef’s kiss,” a gesture made by a chef to indicate that something is delicious.
The dictionary definition is: “The action of joining fingers and thumb together and kissing then removing the hand from the lips as a way of showing that you think something or someone is perfect or superior.”
Game Terms
Some gaming terms were also added to the dictionary as many terms are used in daily conversation.
“These game-inspired words are starting to influence the way we talk about our offline lives as well,” said Colin McIntosh, programme manager at Cambridge Dictionaries.
For example, in the gaming world, speedrunning means “completing an entire computer game, or part of it, as quickly as possible”, while offline it means “completing something much faster than normal”.
A side quest is a term used online to mean “a part of a computer game that has its own objective and story but is not part of the main game”, but in the real world it means “an activity done in addition to another activity and of less importance than that activity”.
For example, if your main mission was to buy a dress, buying shoes to complete the outfit becomes a “side quest.”
