Miley Cyrus isn't responsible, though this week she certainly did introduce a lot of us old folks to "twerking":
"Twerk" is one of several dozen words or phrases that Oxford Dictionaries Online has added to it website.
Oxford's definition for the verb: "Dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance." The origin? "Probably an alteration of WORK."
Among the other additions:
-- "Dappy ... silly, disorganized, or lacking concentration." As in: "Those Two-Way bloggers sure are dappy."
-- "Derp ... used as a substitute for speech regarded as meaningless or stupid, or to comment on a foolish or stupid action." As in: "Another Two-Way post about Miley Cyrus? Derp."
-- "Squee ... used to express great delight or excitement." As in: "The Two-Way hopes to take Labor Day off. Squee!"
-- "Srsly ... short for SERIOUSLY." As in: "Srsly, Mr. Memmott?"
There's also "badassery," which doesn't show up among the 43 new additions in Oxford's announcement. Time, though, spotlighted it and a search of Oxford's website does reveal that badassery was added this month. The definition:
"Behaviour, characteristics, or actions regarded as intimidatingly tough or impressive."
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
