'Selfie', Not 'Twerk' Named Oxford Word Of The Year
OXFORD (CBSDFW.COM) -- Everyone's done it! When you're looking to capture that perfect picture, but no one is around to take it for you...Selfie!
Now, Oxford Dictionaries is recognizing the newfound word 'selfie' as the international Word of the Year 2013.
According to Oxford, the use of the word in the English language has increased by 17,000 percent since this time last year.
"Using the Oxford Dictionaries language research programme, which collects around 150 million words of current English in use each month, we can see a phenomenal upward trend in the use of selfie in 2013, and this helped to cement its selection as Word of the Year," said Judy Pearsall, Editorial Director for Oxford Dictionaries.
Though the word gained popularity in 2013, it can actually be traced back to an Australian online forum in 2002.
Another indication of the word's popularity: a number of spin-off terms have already been created.
A "helfie" is a picture of one's hair. A "belfie" -- a picture of one's posterior. And then there's the "welfie" (workout selfie) and "drelfie" (drunken selfie).
A number of other words made the shortlist for the Word of the Year, but were not selected. "Binge-watch", "schmeat", and the infamous "twerk" were among the finalists.
(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Latest News:
Top Trending:
- Before Drug Sentencing Former Cowboy Sends Letter To CBS 11
- 4th Abduction Attempt In Tarrant County
- Evacuations In Milford After Natural Gas Pipeline Explosion
- Witnesses Watch 2 Lions Kill Lioness At Dallas Zoo
- Safety Institute Suggests Booster Seats Until Age 12
- PHOTOS: Your Pet Pictures
