Languages are fluid like water. The popularity of words ebb and flow like the tides themselves. If you don't believe me, check out this comparison chart of Old and Middle English.
EEEK! Painful to read, isn't it? It doesn't look anything like modern English, right?
When I had to read even a 'translated' version of Beowulf (written sometime between the 8-12 century) for high school, I thought my head would pop off. Instant headache. (Although I must admit, it is a very cool tale indeed.)
However, I digress. This post isn't about archaic forms of English. (I think I actually heard you breathe a sigh of relief at this piece of information!) I will leave that topic for another day. (I promise I will make it interesting.)
My point is that English is constantly evolving. Personally, I think it is changing even faster nowadays due to the Internet, but I digress again.
(Um, I really, really hope that you bothered to look up digress in your dictionary. How'ya gonna learn advanced English if you don't look up the verbose words I use occasionally in your posts? See, there is a method to my madness. Yup. You do need to look up verbose too.)
The point of this post is to teach you some really cool slang that is currently being used in the States which has now made it to the latest version of the Oxford English Dictionary.
So let's have a little fun, shall we? I am going to list several of the new entries and give you a wee little multiple choice test. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the answers. Good luck!
Let's begin...
1. muffin top
a. the flabby around ones hips that 'pops up' over ones waistline when one wears too tight of trousers
b. the yummy crumbly bit of extra dough that is stuck to a bake pan
c. any strange rock formation that is created from volcanic flow
2. five second rule
a. what you yell right before you pass gas
b. what you yell when you quickly put in your mouth any dropped food upon the floor that you still really want to eat
c. what you yell in a nightclub when you see an attractive person lock eyes with you across the dance floor. This means that they are obligated to come over and talk to you.
3. OMG
a. texting slang for 'oh my god!'
b. texting slang for 'oh the man's gorgeous!'
c. texting slang for 'only my guess!'
4. La-La Land
a. the name of a pretend place where no one gets old or is poor
b. a polite term for saying you have to go to the toilet
c. a term for Los Angeles that equates the city to being a fantasy place
Can't get enough of the latest in English vocabulary? Follow this link to the Oxford English Dictionary and learn all of the newest words in the English language. Then at cocktail parties, go up to native English speakers and quiz them! Watch their reaction as they realize that you know more about their language than they do. hee-hee! (Just be a good sport about teasing them, OK? OK.)
And now, drum roll please...
Quiz Answers
1. a; 2. b; 3. a; 4. c
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