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Around 500 new words and phrases have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary in the tome's quarterly update, including several that provide an insight into 21st century hobbies, such as 'sexting', 'photobombing', 'vaping' and 'crowdfunding'.

Other gems included in the latest version of the dictionary are the words 'meh' and 'twerk', as well as more complex ones like 'Enviropig' -- the trademark for a genetically modified line of Yorkshire pigs with enhanced digestive capabilities -- and 'pharmacovigilance', which denotes the practice of monitoring the effects of drugs after they have been licensed for use.


These regular updates to the dictionary are designed to reflect the evolution in the English language which is, naturally, constantly in motion. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the growth in technology, many of the new words we are adopting are closely related to innovations in tech and digital culture. We have identified the new words and concepts that we believe are most likely to be used regularly by WIRED readers:

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autotune, v.

autotuned, adj.

biomethane, n.

Blu-ray, n.

crowdfund, v.

crowdfunded, adj.

crowdfunding, n.

cyclogenesis, n.

deep web

e-cig, n.

e-cigarette, n.

ecotown, n.

Enviropig, n.

e-skin, n.

forensic science, n.

forensics, n.

freegan, adj. and n.

H2O, n.

hyperlocal, adj.

Internaut, n.

Interweb, n.

JavaScript, n.

kryptonite, n.

nanosized, adj.

netbook, n.2

on-trend, adj. and adv.

pageview, n.

pharmacovigilance, n.

photobomb, n.

photobomb, v.

photobomber, n.

photobombing, n.

retweet, n.

retweet, v.

retweeting, n.

sext, n.2

sext, v.

sexting, n.

SD card

system disk

system file

tenderpreneur, n.

tweeting, n.

thumb drive

twitterati, n.

vape, v.

vaper, n.

vaping, n.

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Along with some of the new words that have been added in their own right, the OED team has also added several sub entries, many of which come under the word internet. Here is the full list of internet-related words added to the dictionary:

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Internet address

Internet banking

Internet browser

Internet chat room

Internet connectivity

Internet filtering

Internet forum

Internet gateway

Internet kiosk

Internet of things

Internet radio

Internet search

Internet shopping

Internet startup

Internet traffic

Internet worm

Internet-capable

Internet-enabled

Internet-ready

The full list of new officially recognised words can be found over at the Oxford English Dictionary, where all good words go to thrive. Why not find one you don't know and try using it in a sentence today.