New Oxford English Dictionary entries for 2013

• apols, pl. n. (informal): apologies.

• A/W, abbrev.: autumn/winter (denoting or relating to fashion designed for the autumn and winter seasons of a particular year). (See also S/S)

• babymoon, n. (informal): a relaxing or romantic holiday taken by parents-to-be before their baby is born; a period of time following the birth of a baby during which the new parents can focus on establishing a bond with their child.

• balayage, n.: a technique for highlighting hair in which the dye is painted on in such a way as to create a graduated, natural-looking effect.

• bitcoin, n.: a digital currency in which transactions can be performed without the need for a central bank.

• blondie, n.: a small square of dense, pale-coloured cake, typically of a butterscotch or vanilla flavour.

• buzzworthy, adj. (informal): likely to arouse the interest and attention of the public, either by media coverage or word of mouth.

• BYOD, n.: abbreviation of ‘bring your own device’: the practice of allowing the employees of an organization to use their own computers, smartphones, or other devices for work purposes.

• cake pop, n.: a small round piece of cake coated with icing or chocolate and fixed on the end of a stick so as to resemble a lollipop.

• chandelier earring, n.: a long, elaborate dangling earring, typically consisting of various tiers of gemstones, crystals, beads, etc.

• click and collect, n.: a shopping facility whereby a customer can buy or order goods from a store’s website and collect them from a local branch.

• dappy, adj. (informal): silly, disorganized, or lacking concentration.

• derp, exclam. & n. (informal): (used as a substitute for) speech regarded as meaningless or stupid, or to comment on a foolish or stupid action.

• digital detox, n.: a period of time during which a person refrains from using electronic devices such as smartphones or computers, regarded as an opportunity to reduce stress or focus on social interaction in the physical world.

• double denim, n.: a style of dress in which a denim jacket or shirt is worn with a pair of jeans or a denim skirt, often regarded as a breach of fashion etiquette.

• emoji, n: a small digital image or icon used to express an idea or emotion in electronic communication.

• fauxhawk, n: a hairstyle in which a section of hair running from the front to the back of the head stands erect, intended to resemble a Mohican haircut (in which the sides of the head are shaved).

• FIL, n.: a person’s father-in-law (see also MIL, BIL, SIL).

• flatform, n.: a flat shoe with a high, thick sole.

• FOMO, n.: fear of missing out: anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.

• food baby, n.: a protruding stomach caused by eating a large quantity of food and supposedly resembling that of a woman in the early stages of pregnancy.

• geek chic, n.: the dress, appearance, and culture associated with computing and technology enthusiasts, regarded as stylish or fashionable.

• girl crush, n. (informal): an intense and typically non-sexual liking or admiration felt by one woman or girl for another.

• grats, pl. n. (informal): congratulations. • guac, n.: guacamole.

• hackerspace, n.: a place in which people with an interest in computing or technology can gather to work on projects while sharing ideas, equipment, and knowledge.

• Internet of things, n.: a proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data.

• jorts, pl. n.: denim shorts.

• LDR, n.: a long-distance relationship. • me time, n. (informal): time spent relaxing on one’s own as opposed to working or doing things for others, seen as an opportunity to reduce stress or restore energy.

• MOOC, n.: a course of study made available over the Internet without charge to a very large number of people.

•omnishambles, n. (informal): a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations.

• pear cider, n.: an alcoholic drink made from the fermented juice of pears.

• phablet, n.: a smartphone having a screen which is intermediate in size between that of a typical smartphone and a tablet computer.

• pixie cut, n.: a woman’s short hairstyle in which the hair is cropped in layers, typically so as to create a slightly tousled effect.

• selfie, n. (informal): a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.

• space tourism, n.: the practice of travelling into space for recreational purposes.

• squee, exclam. & v. & n. (informal): (used to express) great delight or excitement.

• srsly, adv. (informal): short for ‘seriously’.

• street food, n.: prepared or cooked food sold by vendors in a street or other public location for immediate consumption.

• TL;DR, abbrev.: ‘too long didn’t read’: used as a dismissive response to a lengthy online post, or to introduce a summary of a lengthy post.

• twerk, v.: dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance.

• unlike, v.: withdraw one’s liking or approval of (a web page or posting on a social media website that one has previously liked).

• vom, v. & n. (informal): (be) sick; vomit.

AAE Q160: Negative prefixes

Hello,

My question was that,why people use untouchable not intouchable, why non-terminating not interminating?

Supriya

Hi Supriya,

The reason that these prefixes are different is because of the influence of other languages on the English Language. Take a look at the table and text below.

Thanks

	Origin	Meaning	Productivity
a- (an-)	Greek	not, without	medium
anti-	Greek	against	high
dis-	Latin	not, opposite of	low
in- (il-, im-, ir-)	Latin	not, opposite of	medium
non-	Latin	not	high
un-	Germanic	not, opposite of	high

The prefixes a- and anti- are both of Greek origin. This explains why the very majority of the words that can use these prefixes also have their origin from Greek (e.g. chromatic, morphous, symmetric, typical, aerobic, hydrous, oxic).

The prefixes dis-, in-, and non- are Latinate in origin. Similarly, words that go along with dis- and in- are mostly from Latin/French. They include words like dishonest, discourteous, dissimiliar, inaccessible, inaccurate, insignificant, to name a few. On the other hand, while non- is also commonly associated with Latinate/French words such as non-negotiable, non-judgmental and non-specific, it has become more productive than the other Latinate prefixes. This prefix can form negative adjectives with many present participles and past participles regardless of the origin of the stem word, such as non-smoking, non-aligned, non-caffeinated, and even with participle phrases, such as non-profit making, non-man made. Another interesting fact about non- is that it can often form neagtive adjectives by joining verbs, to express the meaning that the thing described does not perform the action described by the verb. Examples include non-stop, non-shrink, non-slip

Un- is a prefix native to English. It is mostly attached to native words to form negative adjectives, such as unfriendly, unhappy, unfair, and so on. But it can also be attached to certain Latinate words, giving unable, unsympathetic, unconscious, unreasonable, etc. Like non-, it is a productive prefix and is ready to form adjectives with present and past participles, giving words like unfeeling, undecided, unjustified, etc.

http://www.linglish.net/2008/09/15/so-many-negative-prefixes/

New English words from the Oxford Dictionary

Bling (n): Expensive, ostentatious clothing and jewelry.

Bromance (n): A close but non-sexual relationship between two men.

Chillax (v): Calm down and relax.

Crunk (adj): Very excited or full of energy.

D'oh (ex): Exclamation used to comment on a foolish or stupid action, especially one’s own.

Droolworthy (adj): Extremely attractive or desirable.

Frankenfood (n): Genetically modified food.

Grrrl (n): A young woman regarded as independent and strong or aggressive, especially in her attitude to men or in her sexuality (A blend of “Grrrr” and “Girl.”)

Guyliner (n): Eyeliner that is worn by men.

Hater (n): A person who greatly dislikes a specified person or thing.

Illiterati (n): People who are not well educated or well informed about a particular subject or sphere of activity.

Infomania (n): The compulsive desire to check or accumulate news and information, typically via mobile phone or computer.

Jeggings (n): Tight-fitting stretch trousers for women, styled to resemble a pair of denim jeans.

La-la Land (n): A fanciful state or dream world. Also, Los Angeles.

Locavore (n): A person whose diet consists only or principally of locally grown or produced food.

Mankini (n): A brief one-piece bathing garment for men, with a T-back.

Mini-Me (n): A person closely resembling a smaller or younger version of another.

Muffin Top (n): A roll of fat visible above the top of a pair of women’s tight-fitting low-waisted trousers.

Muggle (n): A person who is not conversant with a particular activity or skill.

Noob (n): A person who is inexperienced in a particular sphere or activity, especially computing or the use of the Internet.

Obvs (adv): Obviously.

OMG (ex): Used to express surprise, excitement, or disbelief. (Dates back to 1917.)

Po-po (n): The police.

Purple State (n): A US state where the Democratic and Republican parties have similar levels of support among voters.

Screenager (n): A person in their teens or twenties who has an aptitude for computers and the Internet.

Sexting (n): The sending of sexually explicit photographs or messages via mobile phone.

Textspeak (n): Language regarded as characteristic of text messages, consisting of abbreviations, acronyms, initials, emoticons. (wut hpns win u write lyk dis.)

Totes (adv): Totally.

Truthiness (n): the quality of seeming or being felt to be true, even if not necessarily true.

Twitterati (n): Keen or frequent users of the social networking site Twitter.

Unfriend (v): Remove (someone) from a list of friends or contacts on a social networking site.

Upcycle (v): Reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original.

Whatevs (ex, adv): Whatever.

Whovian (n): A fan of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who.

Woot (ex): (Especially in electronic communication) Used to express elation, enthusiasm, or triumph.

New Words in the Oxford English Dictionary 2011

alternative vote: an electoral system whereby voters rank candidates in order of preference, candidates being eliminated and votes redistributed until one candidate achieves the required majority.

domestic goddess: (informal) a woman with exceptional domestic skills, especially cookery.

mankini: (pl. mankinis) a brief one-piece bathing garment for men, with a T-back.

retweet: (on the social networking service Twitter) repost or forward (a message posted by another user).

sexting: (informal) the sending of sexually explicit photographs or messages via mobile phone.

woot: (especially in electronic communication) used to express elation, enthusiasm, or triumph

List of English prefixes

List of English prefixes

Prefix	Meaning	Example
A-/an-	lacking in, lack of	asexual, anemic
A-	verb > predicative adjective with progressive aspect	afloat, atremble
Ante-	before	antebellum, antediluvian
Anti-	against	anti-war, antivirus, anti-human
Arch-	supreme, highest, worst	arch-rival, archangel
Be-	equipped with, covered with, beset with (pejorative or facetious)	bedeviled, becalm, bedazzle, bewitch
Co-	joint, with, accompanying	co-worker, coordinator, cooperation
Counter-	against, in opposition to	counteract, counterpart
De-	reverse action, get rid of	de-emphasise
Dis-	not, opposite of	disloyal, disagree
Dis-	reverse action, get rid of	disconnect, disinformation
En-/em-	to make into, to put into, to get into	enmesh, empower
Ex-	former	ex-husband, ex-boss, ex-colleague
Fore-	before	forearm, forerunner
In-/il-/im-/ir-	not, opposite of	inexact, irregular
Inter-	between, among	interstate, interact
Mal-	bad(ly)	malnourish
Mid-	middle	midlife
Mini-	small	minimarket, mini-room
Mis-	wrong, astray	misinformation, misguide
Out-	better, faster, longer, beyond	outreach, outcome
Over-	too much	overreact, overact
Pan-	all, worldwide	pan-African
Post-	after	post-election, post-graduation
Pre-	before	pre-election, pre-enter
Pro-	for, on the side of	pro-life
Re-	again, back	rerun
Self-	self	self-sufficient
Step-	family relation by remarriage	stepbrother
Trans-	across, from one place to another	transatlantic
Twi-	two	twibill, twilight
Ultra-	beyond, extremely	ultraviolet, ultramagnetic
Un-	not, opposite of	unnecessary, unequal
Un-	reverse action, deprive of, release from	undo, untie
Under-	below, beneath, lower in grade/dignity, lesser, insufficient	underachieve, underground, underpass
Up-		upgrade
Vice-	deputy	vice-president, vice-principal
With-	against	withstand
Afro-	relating to Africa	Afro-American
Ambi-	both	ambitendency
Amphi-	two, both, on both sides	amphiaster, amphitheater, amphibian
An-, a-	not, without	anemic, asymmetric
Ana-/an-	up, against	anacardiaceous, anode
Anglo-	relating to England	Anglo-Norman
Ante-	before	antenatal
Anti-	opposite	anti-clockwise
Apo-	away, different from	apomorphine
Astro-	star	astrobiology
Auto-	self	autobiography, automatic
Bi-	two	bicycle
Bio-	biological	biodegrade
Circum-	around	circumnavigate
Cis-	on this side of	cislunar
Con-/com-/col-/cor-/co-	together or with	confederation, commingle, colleague, correlation, cohabit
Contra-	opposite	contradict
Cryo-	ice	cryogenics
Crypto-	hidden, secret	cryptography
De-	down	depress
Demi-	half	demigod
Demo-	people	demography
Di-	two	dioxide
Dis-, di-, dif-	apart	differ, dissect
Down-	to make something lesser, lower or worse	downgrade
Du-/duo-	two	duet
Eco-	ecological	ecosystem
Electro-	electric, electricity	electro-analysis
Epi-	upon, at, close upon, in addition	epidermis
Euro-	European	Eurocentric
Ex-, e-, ef-	out of	export
Extra-	outside	extracurricular
Fin-	kinship	affinity
Franco-	French, France	Francophile
Geo-	relating to the earth or its surface	geography
Hetero-	different	heterosexual
Hemi-	half	hemimorphic
Homo-	same	homosexual
Hydro-	relating to water, or using water	hydroelectricity
Hyper-	above, over	hyperthermia
Hypo-	under or below something, low	hypothermia
Ideo-	image, idea	ideograph
Idio-	individual, personal, unique	idiolect
In-	in, into	insert
Indo-	relating to the Indian subcontinent	Indo-European
Infra-	below, beneath	infrared
Inter-	among, between	intercede
Intra-	inside, within	intravenous
Iso-	equal	isochromatic
Macr(o)-	long	macrobiotic
Maxi-	very long, very large	maxi-skirt
Mega-, megalo-	great, large	megastar, megalopolis
Meta-	after, along with, beyond, among, behind	meta-theory
Micro-	small	microbacillus
Midi-	medium-sized	midi-length
Mon(o)-	sole, only	monogamy
Multi-	many	multi-storey
Neo-	new	neolithic
Non-	not	nonexistent
Omni-	all	omnipotent, omnipresent
Paleo-	old	paleolithic
Para-	beside, beyond	parallel
Ped-/pod-	foot	pedestrian, podiatrist
Per-	through, completely, wrongly, exceedingly	permeate, permute
Peri-	around	periphrase
Photo-	light, photography, photograph	photoelectric
Poly-	many	polygon
Post-	after	postpone
Pre-	before	predict
Preter-	beyond, past, more than	preternatural
Pro-	substitute, deputy	proconsul
Pro-	before	procambium
Pros-	toward	prosthesis
Proto-	first, original	protoplasm, prototype
Pseudo-	false, imitation	pseudonym
Pyro-	fire	pyrokinetic
Quasi-	partly, almost, appearing to be but not really	quasi-religious
Retro-	backwards	retrograde
Semi-	half	semicircle
Socio-	society, social, sociological	sociopath
Sub-, su-, suc-, suf-, sug-, sum-, sup-, sur-, sus-	below, under	submerge, success, support, surreptitious, suspect, sustain
Super-	above, over	supervisor
Supra-	above, over	suprarenal
Sur-	above, over	surname, surreal, surrender
Syn-, sy-, syl-, sym-, sys-	together, with	synthesis, symbol, syllable, system
Tele-	at a distance	television
Trans-	across	transverse
Tri-	three	tricycle
Ultra-	beyond	ultraviolet
Uni-	one	unicycle
Up-	to make something greater, higher, or better	upgrade

Differences Between American and British English

American and British English are the two varieties that are taught in most ESL/EFL courses. Generally, it is agreed that no one version is "correct" however, there are certainly preferences in use. The most important rule is to try to be consistent in your usage. If you decide that you want to use American English spellings then be consistent in your spelling (i.e. The color of the orange is also its flavour - color is American spelling and flavour is British), this is of course not always easy - or possible. The following guide is meant to point out the principal differences between these two varieties of English.

Use of the Present Perfect

In British English the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment. For example:

I've lost my key. Can you help me look for it?
In American English the following is also possible:
I lost my key. Can you help me look for it?

In British English the above would be considered incorrect. However, both forms are generally accepted in standard American English. Other differences involving the use of the present perfect in British English and simple past in American English include already, just and yet.

British English:

I've just had lunch
I've already seen that film
Have you finished your homework yet?

American English:

I just had lunch OR I've just had lunch
I've already seen that film OR I already saw that film.
Have your finished your homework yet? OR Did you finish your homework yet?

Possession

There are two forms to express possession in English. Have or Have got

Do you have a car?
Have you got a car?
He hasn't got any friends.
He doesn't have any friends.
She has a beautiful new home.
She's got a beautiful new home.

While both forms are correct (and accepted in both British and American English), have got (have you got, he hasn't got, etc.) is generally the preferred form in British English while most speakers of American English employ the have (do you have, he doesn't have etc.)

The Verb Get

The past participle of the verb get is gotten in American English. Example He's gotten much better at playing tennis. British English - He's got much better at playing tennis.

Vocabulary

Probably the major differences between British and American English lies in the choice of vocabulary. Some words mean different things in the two varieties for example:

Mean: (American English - angry, bad humored, British English - not generous, tight fisted)

Rubber: (American English - condom, British English - tool used to erase pencil markings)

There are many more examples (too many for me to list here). If there is a difference in usage, your dictionary will note the different meanings in its definition of the term. Many vocabulary items are also used in one form and not in the other. One of the best examples of this is the terminology used for automobiles.

American English - hood	British English - bonnet
American English - trunk	British English - boot
American English - truck	British English - lorry

Once again, your dictionary should list whether the term is used in British English or American English.

For a more complete list of the vocabulary differences between British and American English see the vocabulary tool below.

Prepositions

There are also a few differences in preposition use including the following:

American English - on the weekend	British English - at the weekend
American English - on a team	British English - in a team
American English - please write me soon	British English - please write to me soon

Past Simple/Past Participles

The following verbs have two acceptable forms of the past simple/past participle in both American and British English, however, the irregular form is generally more common in British English (the first form of the two) and the regular form is more common to American English.

Burn	Burnt OR burned
Dream	dreamt OR dreamed
Lean	leant OR leaned
Learn	learnt OR learned
Smell	smelt OR smelled
Spell	spelt OR spelled
Spill	spilt OR spilled
Spoil	spoilt OR spoiled

Spelling

Here are some general differences between British and American spellings:

Words ending in -or (American) -our (British) color, colour, humor, humour, flavor, flavour etc.
Words ending in -ize (American) -ise (British) recognize, recognise, patronize, patronise etc.

The best way to make sure that you are being consistent in your spelling is to use the spell check on your word processor (if you are using the computer of course) and choose which variety of English you would like. As you can see, there are really very few differences between standard British English and standard American English. However, the largest difference is probably that of the choice of vocabulary and pronunciation.

Vocabulary Tool

British to American

Use the following drop-down list to find the American English equivalent of these British Expressions.

--- aerial angry anywhere autumn bank note barrister, solicitor biscuit bonnet boot braces caretaker chemist's chips the cinema condom constable cooker corn, wheat cot cotton crash crossroads curtains draughts drawing-pin dual carriageway dummy dust-bin, rubbish-bin dustbin, rubbish-bin dustman dynamo engine engine driver film flat flyover garden gear-lever graduate grill ground floor gumshoes, wellington boots gymshoes, tennis-shoes handbag hoarding holiday hoover ill interval jersey, jumper, pullover, sweater jug lift lorry luggage mackintosch, raincoat mad main road maize maths mean motorway nappy nasty nowhere nursing home oculltist, optician off-license paraffin pavement peep petrol post postbox postman potato crisps pram pub public toilet puncture push-chair queue railway railway carriage reel of cotton return (ticket) reverse charges rise (in salary) road surface roudabout rubber rubbish saloon (car) sellotape shop silencer single (ticket) somewhere spanner staff (of a university) sump sweet sweets tap tap (outdoors) taxi tea-towel term tights timetable tin toll motorway torch tramp trousers turn-ups underground railway underpants verge (of road) waistcoat wardrobe wash your hands windscreen wing zip

American to British

Use the following drop-down list to find the British English equivalent of these American English words.

--- antenna alumnus anyplace apartment attorney baby carriage bar bill billboard blow-out broiler cab call collect can candy checkers closet cookie corn crazy crib cuffs dessert diaper dish-towel divided highway drapes elevator drug store engineer (train) eraser faculty fall faucet fender first floor flashlight freeway french fries garbage, trash garbage can garbage collector gasoline gear-shift generator highway hobo hood (on a car) intermission intersection janitor kerosene line liquor store mad mail mailbox mailman, mail carrier math mean motor movie the movies muffler noplace oil-pan one-way optometrist overpass pacifier panti-hose pants patrolman pavement peek pitcher pocketbook, purse potato chips private hospital purse railroad raincoat raise realtor rest room round trip rubber rubbers schedule Scotch tape sedan semester shorts shoulder (of road) sick sidewalk sneakers someplace spigot spool of thread stingy store stove stroller subway suspenders sweater thread thumbtack traffic circle trash trashcan truck trunk (on a car) turnpike undershirt vacation vacuum cleaner vest wash up wheat windshield wreck wrench yard zipper

Top Tips for learning English

Point 1
Be clear about why you want to learn English. Do you want it for your job, to help you get a job, to talk to English speakers, to help you study?

Point 2
Be clear about how good you want your English to be. How good do you want to be at speaking English, listening, reading, writing?

Point 3
Have a clear image of yourself when you have achieved the proficiency that you want. What will you see, what will you hear, how will you feel?

Point 4
If possible, enrol on a language course. If you can't, put yourself in situations where you can use English which leads on to ......

Point 5
Look for opportunities to learn and use English. Speak English whenever you can. Listen to the radio and CDs in English, read and write in English. If you look for opportunities, you will find them.

Point 6
Write down new words and phrases in a notebook. Keep the notebook with you so you can look at it when you have a spare moment.

Point 7
Practise, practise, practise. There's an expression in English. If you don't want to lose it, use it. This is very true when it comes to learning foreign languages.

Point 8
Find a learning buddy or colleague. Find someone you can learn English with. Speak with each other. Send each other messages in English.

Point 9
Learn little and often. Make it a habit to learn English ten minutes each day. This is much better than learning for longer once a week.