The Oxford Dictionaries New Monitor Corpus, a research programme which collects around 150 million words of current English in use each month, using automated search criteria to scan new web content, has named 'vape' as its international word of the year for 2014 just as 'selfie' was anointed the international word of the year in 2013.
The other words that have found their way into the hallowed dictionary include strange things like bae, indyref, budtender, normcore, contactless, and slacktivism.
A sophisticated software has identified these words as being popularly used and searched by people online.
Here are seven new additions that you ought to know:
Vape (the word comes from vapour)
Verb: Inhale and exhale smoke produced by an electronic cigarette.
Noun: An electronic cigarette
Indyref
Noun: Short for 'independent referendum' as in the case of the Scottish referendum that allowed Scots to vote for continuing their union with Great Britain or seceding from it.
Slacktivism
Noun: An action taken on the internet in support of a social or political cause without wasting too much time or involvement: like lighting a candle as in here.
Normcore
Noun: A trend of wearing unfashionable, ordinary clothes to make a statement.
Contactless
Adjective: This word refers to technologies that allows wireless contact between two gadgets -- say a smartphone and an electronic card reader -- to facilitate payment.
Bae (the word comes from babe)
Noun: Short for babe or baby. A term of endearment for a partner.
In Danish, bae also means poop. :-)
Budtender (the word comes from bartender)
Noun: Stands for person who serves in a cannabis shop. Bud is slang for marijuana and tender as in bartender.
