Posted on 06/06/2003 6:22:37 PM PDT by AntiGuv
LONDON - Khazi, minging, bling-bling?
Not some crazy new dialect, but standard British vocabulary, according to the latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, published Friday.
The publishers said they have added almost 6,000 new words and phrases that reflect 21st century life, including the frowner's favorite, Botox, passion-enhancing drug Viagra and sambuca, the aniseed liqueur served with a flaming coffee bean.
Among the 187,000 definitions in the latest edition, published by Oxford University Press, there is also bevvy British slang for a beer; head-case, referring to a person who exhibits irrational behavior; and bling-bling, a reference to elaborate jewelry and clothing, and the appreciation of it.
Half-inch, Cockney rhyming slang for pinch, or steal, also makes it into the dictionary this time around.
Some of the new terms, including cut-and-paste, screensavers and search engines, reflect the growing influence of computers, while hands-free phones and phreaking, the expression for hacking into phone systems for free calls, acknowledge developments in telecommunications.
Other corporate-speak considered established enough for inclusion in the dictionary includes dot-coms, or Internet companies, and blipverts, subliminal TV adverts of just a few seconds' duration.
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.
Getting down to basics, the new dictionary now makes it all right to describe the khazi (toilet) as minging (disgusting).
I suspect a lot of it comes from our tendency to exaggerate. I had a cup of coffee this morning, and I told the young lady who served it that it was "wonderful." Now, did that cup of coffee literally fill me with wonder? Of course not. That used to be the sense in which the word "wonderful" was used, but now, it really means "OK." If a cup of coffee is deemed to be "wonderful," new words are invented for things that really do fill one with wonder.
Thousands of words have been similarly devalued. Most notable, to me, is "unique," which is now used to mean merely "unusual." I'm sure we'll hear with increasing frequency "unique-er" and "unique-est," and "the most unique thing I ever saw."
I don't know, but there is a group that does that as well.
I rarely use spell checker. Just can't get in the habit. I keep my Oxford's ready to hand near the computer. Dictionarys make for interesting reading sometimes. Good for helping you get to sleep when counting sheep isn't doing it for you.
For what it's worth, I've never heard the "word" bling-bling myself until I saw this thread.
I've read that good-bye was slang for Godspeed and the older generation at the time was just mortified.
Language evolves. Not always in the right direction.
What is the current American position on the words "yon" and "yonder"? Would the average American use these words? Would an anchorman use either of those while reading the news? Just curious.
I use it regularly now.
Mr. T inducted into bling-bling hall of fame
"His work forged a path for an entire generation of rappers to use gold chains to strengthen stereotypes of criminality, truancy and white envy."
The T'inator: Translate any webpage into Mistah T-speak!
Don't worry about it. I'm an American living in Scotland.
Yonder. Yon.
This plays right into the discussion you brought up about words being added, devalued and lost in the English language. In my life, I have heard the word "yon" used by a normal person exactly once and that was in Northern Ireland. The fellow was from a rural community and he used it quite matter-of-factly, as if he used it all the time. He was a coworker and his sentence was "Do you see yon skiff? Could you pick it up with the forklift?"
Yon is the archaic and/or dialectic form of the word yonder. They are both totally legitimate words. Using them in no way reflects poorly upon a person or besmirches their background but as I found out when I left my Georgia home for the Army and the world at large, Americans outside of the South think the word yonder sounds like "hick-speak".
This is how it goes even though there's no logic, no rhyme or reason behind it. Yonder is just as legitimate as any other word. In no way can it indicate ignorance or simpleness, in fact, failing to use the word is only limiting your vocabulary. (not yours- just generally speaking)
On 9/11 the BBC made fun of President Bush's use of the word "folks". They were quite plainly looking down their noses at him even though in the sense of what he was trying to convey, folks was a totally legitimate word choice.
The way language morphs and evolves is a strange business. It's sad to see so many words go into disuse because of silly reasons like this. I would much rather see people use the word "yon" regularly than to hear the word bling-bling to often. It's actually a beautiful word as is yonder. "Yonder is trouble looking to be found", for example. It's a pity to see the word not used more widely.
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