English, srsly?

Tracing the recent changes in the English language

Do you think there’s something weird about the title of this article? If you don’t, chances are you belong to younger generations who live in the world of online chats, where using this sort of abbreviation is fairly common.

Now, if the title strikes you as strange or ungrammatical, we have some hard news for you:

What used to be a slang abbreviation of the word ‘seriously’ officially entered Standard English in August last year, when Oxford added it to their dictionary together with many other entries.

Basically, OED’s regular updates mean that random abbreviations or highly informal words we encounter online are now fully appropriate to be used in any context requiring a dose of formality. These are undoubtedly sad news for teachers around the globe who are already struggling with students’ poor language skills and inappropriate vocabulary.

What’s going on with the English language?

The language evolves and if this process seems too fast to you, you are not alone in this opinion. With more than million existing words and around 1000 of new ones added annually, English is one of the most rapidly-growing languages in the world.

English is said to have more words than the second-ranked Mandarin Chinese with 500,000 words and third-ranked French with 100,000.

Even though it’s impossible to determine the exact number of words in a language, English vocabulary is definitely among the biggest ones in the world.

The rapid pace of changes in the English language is partly due to its status as a global language and its widespread use in almost all parts of the world. Moreover, its astonishingly fast evolution is also related to development of new technologies, most notably the Internet, which is the main communication tool for younger generations who are already famous for exercising their inventiveness with language.

Did the same thing happen in past?

The online discourse requires new forms of expression that are economic and transparent, hence so many abbreviations that rapidly enter Standard English. Such vocabulary changes have always been a part of language evolution. However, as opposed to certain past eras when other types of registers flooded the language, today we have a mass intrusion of slang phrases.

Take the example of the Industrial Age when there was a boost of words related to scientific discoveries and newfound knowledge of human anatomy. The words that entered English at this time are: data, experiment, formula, mechanics, molecule, ratio, structure…

Let’s examine now how English has changed over the last couple of years.

To do this, we’ll have a look at some words that were added to Oxford Advanced English Dictionary this year.

Food

Snacky (adj.) – relating to the food taken between meals or to a light casual meal as in: “after weeks of snacky tapas I’d decided that a proper sit-down meal was in order”;
white pizza (n.) – a pizza without tomato sauce: “I had a white pizza with clams, spinach, and red onion”;
food coma (n.) – a drowsy state, or a short period of extreme lethargy caused by the consumption of a large amount of food: “I fell into a post-dinner food coma”;

How many of you are familiar with this feeling? I know I am.

Tech

Cryptocurrency (n.) – a digital currency regulated by encryption techniques, existing independently of a central bank: “decentralized cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin now provide an outlet for personal wealth that is beyond restriction and confiscation”;
Lock screen (n.) – A visual interface on a computer or mobile phone which is available before the user has entered a passcode or otherwise activated the full functionality of the device, as in: “A security flaw enabled users to bypass the lock screen”;
Cyberespionage (n.) – The act of using computer networks in order to get illegal access to confidential information, usually that held by a government or other organization: “improving cybersecurity across government agencies is crucial given the increase in cyberespionage”;

General

perf (n.) – a short for performance: “his second Oscar-winning perf”;
time suck (n.) – an inefficient or fully unproductive activity. For instance, the Internet can often be a huge time suck;
slash (conj.) – used to link alternatives or words denoting or describing a dual (or multiple) function or nature: “The provocative sportscaster-slash-pundit takes on five of the biggest controversies of the day”’;
death stare (n.) – a long and hostile look directed at a particular person: “Bruce gave her a death stare that was even detectable through his sunglasses”;
shvitz (n.) – a sauna or steam bath as in: “our great-grandfather and his brothers went to the shvitz together”;