'Bling-Bling' Makes New Oxford Dictionary

Associated Press ^ | June 6, 2003 | Staff

[CapandBall]

I've been hankering for a MoonPie too! Reckon I'll jest wander on over to the Winn-Dixie and fetch me one.

[Cathryn Crawford]

Cool!!! There's a Winn-Dixie in my hometown, and my sister worked at one for many years!

[gcruse]

I never heard of bling-bling until I played Grand Theft Auto III. Even then, I didn't know what it meant. I think my demographic doesn't intersect with the source of this stuff any more.

[Shermy]

bling-bling, a reference to elaborate jewelry and clothing, and the appreciation of it.

Poor british interpretation of an Americanism. "elaborate" could be a wedding dress. Bling, IMO, has connotations of flashy (plus possibly "elaborate") jewelry, and could include clothing and cars. Flashy, and wealth-flaunting.

As "bling-bling" being "the appreciation of it", that's off - except in the sense eyes "appreciate" flashiness.

[Corin Stormhands]

And J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional world in "The Lord of the Rings" is also recognized. Orcs are defined as "members of an imaginary race of ugly, aggressive human-like creatures." The dictionary says the word probably comes from the Latin orcus meaning hell, or the Italian orco, meaning monster.

The new dictionary's here! The new dictionary's here! We ARE somebody!

But what do they mean "fictional?"

[Shermy]

To try to be more exact, flashy, bright, sparkly, flaunting of wealth....there's a word that describes it...It's on the tip of my tongue...oh yeah, "bling"!

[Shermy]

To try to be more exact, flashy, bright, sparkly, flaunting of wealth....there's a word that describes it...It's on the tip of my tongue...oh yeah, "bling"!

[ApesForEvolution]

Did 'schwing' make the cut? Or is that yesterday's slang?

[ApesForEvolution]

I'm holding on to my older versions of Webster's...for future generations to have a clue where it all went so wrong.

[uglybiker]

[LurkerNoMore!]

heheh
I have taught you right.

However, the new term is "Ice".

[LurkerNoMore!]

right = well.

It was a typo.

[Drew68]

Tell me - what does it take for words to be taken out of the dictionary?

My guess is words are never removed from the OED.

If you think about it, why would they? Just as humanity is growing and evolving, so is our vocabulary. I read somewhere that there are roughly 400,000 words in the English language. 2000 years ago, people probably communicated with 5000 words.

Certainly there are slang words that were used 100 years ago that are not used today. But just because these words are no longer used does not make them any less a part of the English language.

Think of the OED as a historical record of sorts. 100 years from now, historians may need to know the definition of "bling-bling" and the OED will provide this to them.

[lainie]

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?"

In North Carolina, the family all have houses in the same general vicinity. One is "up yonder," another is "over yonder," and the third is "down yonder." :-)

[Katya]

Who is making up all these crap words???? Do we really have to accept all this nonsense and put it into the dictionary?

Oh come on....you're starting to sound french....perhaps you'd like us to start an academy for the preservation of the english language.

[lainie]

Mistah T likes freerepublic.com. I pity the fool!

[Vaquero]

Korea's -- Kim Yong Nam, says

Bling me surplies