The latest additions to Oxford Dictionaries include “microaggression,” “fat-shame,” “manspreading,” the gender-neutral pronoun “Mx,” and “social justice warrior.”
Unlike the historical Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford Dictionaries is used as a reference guide with an emphasis placed on modern words. According to Oxford Dictionaries, new words are chosen for the dictionary after researchers figure out which newly emerging words will “stand the test of time.”
In a blog post on Wednesday, Oxford Dictionaries highlighted a few of the latest additions and their importance.
Notable additions to Oxford Dictionaries are:
- Fat-shame (verb): Cause (someone judged to be fat or overweight) to feel humiliated by making mocking or critical comments about their size
- Manspreading (noun): The practice whereby a man, especially one traveling on public transportation, adopts a sitting position with his legs wide apart, in such a way as to encroach on an adjacent seat or seats
- Microaggression (noun): A statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority
- Mx (noun): A title used before a person’s surname or full name by those who wish to avoid specifying their gender or by those who prefer not to identify themselves as male or female
- Social justice warrior (noun): A person who expresses or promotes socially progressive views
Oxford Dictionaries notes “social justice warrior,” also known as a “SJW,” is used as a derogatory term.
Other additions to the Oxford Dictionaries include political terms such as “Grexit,” Internet terminology such as “Redditor,” and chatspeak like “pwn” and “NBD.”