LONDON — OMG! LOL! The Oxford English Dictionary approves of the three-letter, Internet- inspired expressions used for “oh, my God!” and “laughing out loud.”
It is adding them to the authoritative reference book’s latest online update, which includes 900 new words. Cracking the dictionary, however, is no easy task. Terms made popular online are only included among the dictionary’s 300,000 entries when they have crossed over into everyday use.
Editors publish updates to the online Oxford every three months.The new update also includes:
• BFF — “best friends forever”
• IMHO — “in my humble opinion”
• muffin top — “A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers.”
• wag — “wives and girlfriends”
• “heart” as a verb — A casual equivalent of “to love” represented with a symbol, as seen on souvenirs proclaiming “I (heart) New York.”
• TMI — “too much information”
