The New Words Are Here (2005)

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LONDON (AP) — Chavs, yarcos and neds — these are the new tribes of Britain, as defined by compilers of the new edition of the Collins English Dictionary. And the weapon for keeping them in line? The asbo, of course.
The 1,500 new entries in the dictionary, published Wednesday, reflect the latest trends in language, society, sport — and even crime.
Chav is defined as “a young working-class person who dresses in casual sports clothes.” The word’s origins may come from “Romany chavi — a child.”
The dictionary also includes chavette, the female equivalent, and the adjectives chavish and chavtastic — suitable for or designed for chavs.
A host of similar tribes are also included for example skanger, similar definition, but Irish slang, yarco for someone from eastern England and ned as a synonym for Scottish.
Any chav who misbehaves is likely to get an Asbo — the acronym for the government’s anti-social behaviour order, which the dictionary defines as “a civil order made against a persistently anti-social individual which restricts his or her activities or movements, a breach of which results in criminal charges.”
Also included is squeaky-bum time, which the dictionary calls “the tense final stages of a league competition, (especially) from the point of view of the leaders.

― Huk-L, Thursday, 9 June 2005 13:45 (twenty years ago)

Down with this sort of thing.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:14 (twenty years ago)

careful now.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:17 (twenty years ago)

"Squeaky-bum time"? Sounds rather offish.

― NickB (NickB), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:18 (twenty years ago)

Is that like 'brown trousers time'? I have never heard of this so-called squeaky bum. Pshaw.

― Archel (Archel), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:42 (twenty years ago)

Sqeaky-bum time was something Alex Ferguson said about some football match. This kind of rubbish should be in a slang dictionary or something, not in the real dictionary.

― Craig Gilchrist (Craig Gilchrist), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:46 (twenty years ago)

Yarco? I'm East Anglian and never ever ever heard that. Barrys, Ravers, Townies, sure. Not Yarcos.

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:47 (twenty years ago)

Speaking of words, how come the first time I'd ever seen the word "apposite" was like a couple weeks ago on ILE, and ever since then dozens of random (but usually British) ILXors have been using it ALL THE TIME. Did you guys decide to do this or something?

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 9 June 2005 17:06 (twenty years ago)

Asbolutely.

― Huk-L, Thursday, 9 June 2005 17:09 (twenty years ago)

We TAKE the mind. MindTAKER.

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 9 June 2005 17:11 (twenty years ago)

it's all a simulation and ilx is the ai trainer.
m.

― msp (mspa), Thursday, 9 June 2005 17:13 (twenty years ago)

chavtastic!

― metal assembly (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 9 June 2005 17:20 (twenty years ago)

"ned as a synonym for Scottish."

Er, I would like to hope they meant "ned" as a synonym for "Scottish chav", not just for "Scottish", though you never know.

Bouncebackability is now also in the dictionary. Football managers rule the world, apparently (add me to the list of people who don't really think squeaky-bum time should be in the real proper dictionary).

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 9 June 2005 17:22 (twenty years ago)

six months pass...

Canadian Oxford Dictionary releases new words
TORONTO (CP) — How many times have you checked your crackberry today? Are you seeing your friend with benefits tonight? Have you downloaded a podcast?
If none of the above makes sense to you, then you may have been living in seclusion this past year.
Crackberry, friends with benefits and podcast are among the key words of 2005, according to the editors of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.
Each year the editors assess which new words gained in prominence.
“Podcasting started in late 2004 and has really taken off,” says Katherine Barber, editor-in-chief of dictionaries at Oxford University Press Canada’s Toronto office.
And podcast — which will be added to the next edition of the dictionary — wasn’t the only new technology-related word. Crackberry (a nickname for the addictive BlackBerry), infomania, snaparazzi, VoIP and Wi-Fi also became a part of our vocabulary.
Also on the Oxford list are Sudoku, the numbers-based puzzle, and parkour, the sport of running and climbing over urban structures.
Relationship words include the aforementioned “friends with benefits,” meaning friends who have sex regularly with each other without being in a committed romantic relationship.
The term “wing girl“ was also noticed. It refers to a pretty girl hired by a man to accompany him to a party in the hopes of making him more attractive to other women.
While these words were on the tip of our collective tongue this year, not all of them will make it into the dictionary, says Barber.
“We’ll have to wait and see how well they establish themselves in general parlance before entering them in a dictionary,” she said.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 16 December 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)

podcast. is. in. a. dictionary.

― u saved me (dubplatestyle), Friday, 16 December 2005 20:23 (twenty years ago)

soemone just needs to grab a hold of the world and shoot the bitch

― LC, Friday, 16 December 2005 21:03 (twenty years ago)

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