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'Twerk' Sashays Into Oxford's Online Dictionary, 'Srsly'

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 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.