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05/10/2024 02:20:40 am

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Words Like 'Yolo' and 'Amazeballs' Are Now in the Oxford Dictionary

An array of new words have made their way into the Oxford Dictionary's recent online update and include words such as adorbs, binge-watch, amazeballs, humblebrag, sideboob, and neckbeard, in order to portray new trends in the English language.

Every few months, editors of the online dictionary study around 150 million new words used by newspapers, the internet, and other sources, and choose which can be added to the list of widely accepted English words.

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"These are words that are common enough that you are likely to encounter them, and may have to look up their meanings," Katherine Martin, an Oxford Dictionary editor, told ABC News.

Additional words in the Oxford Dictionary include 'Yolo,' which is an acronym for 'You Only Live Once,' and 'binge-watch,' which indicates marathon viewing of several episodes of television programs.

Contractions such as 'e-cig' for 'electronic cigarette' and 'doncha' for 'don't you have' are also included in the list of acceptable words in the English language.

'Adorbs'-short for adorable-is classified as an adjective meaning arousing delight or cute.

'Amazeballs,' commonly used to express amazement can also describe something as attractive or enjoyable.

Some words are also used both as a noun and a verb such as 'humblebrag' which is defined as something 'ostensibly modest or self-deprecating' which is actually said to draw attention to something one can be proud of.

Words like 'neckbeard' and 'sideboob' refer to parts of the human body not usually seen as attractive. 'Neckbeard' pertains to hair growth in a man's neck indicating poor grooming, while 'sideboob' is a noun describing a portion of a woman's breast exposed by revealing clothing.

Other abbreviations accepted by the Oxford Dictionary include 'FML' (f--- my life), 'ICYMI' (in case you missed it), 'SMH' (shaking my head), and 'WDYT' (what do you think) which are commonly used in hash tags, chat rooms, and posts over the Internet.

On Wednesday, TIME posted the complete list of latest additions to the Oxford Online Dictionary.

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