“OMG,” “LOL” enter the Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary

The term “OMG,” which comprises half the communication between teenagers at online chat sites, has  entered the Oxford English Dictionary. But it was first employed in 1917 by John Fisher, an admiral. In a letter to Winston Churchill, Fisher mentioned a new form of Knighthood, adding the exclamation “O.M.G.(Oh! My God!)—Shower it on the Admiralty!”

“LOL,” first seen online in 1990, was another addition. “Heart” can now mean “to love,” and first appeared in printed form in an article by the Associated Press in 1983. Some news sources have wrongly reported that the heart symbol itself (♥ ) had been included by the OED.

If a word is to be included in the OED, it must see widespread and frequent use. It should be understood by a majority of people. Although Grandma might not know what “LOL” means, most people do. The OED includes a history of the usage of every word, and Graeme Diamond, who heads the OED’s New Word Group, says that a word should “have led a bit of a life” before the OED writes its biography.

Generally, a word must have been around for at least five years, however this is truncated for historically significant words like “AIDS.”

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