Like it or lump it, the English language is constantly evolving to reflect the people that speak it—and unfortunately, those people needed a catch-all term for unsolicited male condescension. The Oxford Dictionary has released a list of new additions to their online edition, so congratulations, “mansplain,” “douchebag,” “fandom” and friends! You’re officially in the big leagues now!
For context, Oxford says that while some of the new arrivals are equally as common in the US as they are in the UK, others (like the self-esplainatory “side boob”), are used more frequently across the pond. As an indicator of how influential words need to be to make the online edition, Oxford says changes aren’t made to OxfordDictionaries.com until editors have:
gathered enough independent evidence from a range of sources to be confident that they have widespread currency in English.
Hooray for dynamic dictionaries! May we all go forth secure in the knowledge that, should we ever need to regular splain mansplaining to a skeptical mansplainer, the mighty right of Oxford is on our side.
Sadly, the Oxford English Dictionary has yet to add any of the new words from its less academic online counterpart, but I think it will probably be too easy to think of the accompanying picture for if “mansplain” ever makes the cut. Probably the human embodiment of a monocle saying women would have more opportunities in the workforce if they just tried harder? A Redditor blaming the Black Widow hold-up on Scarlett Johansson’s biological clock? Just some ideas.
(via Salon, image via Mansplaining Paul Ryan)
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