The Oxford English Dictionary has added 900 new words, including Internet-inspired abbreviations like LOL, OMG, and BFF.

Will this cause the demise of society and the collapse of IQ scores globally?

Linguist Daniel Midgley is here to hose down the hysteria, and reveal the surprising history of these new words on this week’s Talk the Talk.


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17: OMG, Oxford! WTF?

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Show notes

Here’s the Big List!
http://www.oed.com/public/latest/latest-update/

Graeme Diamond explains how words get in
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/browbeat/archive/2011/03/25/how-did-muffin-top-lol-and-omg-get-into-the-oxford-english-dictionary.aspx

Economist article, plus video
http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2011/03/lexicography

Some typical derisive comments
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110325/ap_on_fe_st/eu_britain_new_words