Retweet and woot enter the dictionary
19th August 2011
Retweet, woot and jeggings are among the 400 new words added to the latest edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
The centenary edition of the dictionary draws inspiration from the world of social media and the internet, with retweet (the art of re-posting another person's tweet on Twitter) and cyberbullying both being added.
Jeggings – clothing that is a combination between jeans and leggings – is now sandwiched between jeer and Jehovah in the dictionary, while woot – a term used to express elation or joy - also makes the list.
Angus Stevenson, the dictionary's editor, said modern lexicographers still use the same techniques as those who compiled the first Concise Oxford English Dictionary 100 years ago.
'It's how the dictionary has always worked - we get as much evidence as we can so we know it's not just a small number of people using the word and it's not going to disappear,' he told Channel 4 News.
The first Concise Oxford English Dictionary was compiled by brothers Henry and George Fowler in their Guernsey cottage in 1911 and included blouse, frock and the 'lately discovered atmospheric gas' neon.