In 2012, we celebrated (with GIFS, naturally) that “GIF” was the Word of the Year, and last year we made a call to shut down everything when Oxford Dictionaries declared “selfie” the Word of the Year. Now Oxford Dictionaries has announced 2014’s Word of the Year. It’s vape. F*cking vape. I hope you’re happy, society. You did this.
The word is being added to the Oxford Dictionary Online, which tracks popular words like “side boob”, and not the Oxford English Dictionary, which only includes words with a longer historical record (like, hopefully someday, “side boob”). Although vape was coined by Rob Stepney in 1983, it didn’t enter popular usage until 2009.
Here are the other words being added to the ODO, which vape beat out to become Word of the Year.
bae, n. used as a term of endearment for one’s romantic partner.
budtender, n. a person whose job is to serve customers in a cannabis dispensary or shop.
contactless, adj. relating to or involving technologies that allow a smart card, mobile phone, etc. to contact wirelessly to an electronic reader, typically in order to make a payment.
indyref, n. an abbreviation of ‘independence referendum’, in reference to the referendum on Scottish independence, held in Scotland on 18 September 2014, in which voters were asked to answer yes or no to the question ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’
normcore, n. a trend in which ordinary, unfashionable clothing is worn as a deliberate fashion statement.
slacktivism, n., informal actions performed via the Internet in support of a political or social cause but regarded as requiring little time or involvement, e.g. signing an online petition or joining a campaign group on a social media website; a blend of slacker and activism.
Yeah, knowing the word “indyref” will come in very handy in the future…
Also, “vape” and “budtender”? You’d almost think weed was being legalized all over the place. Now we’ll just see if vape has the longevity to make it from the ODO into the OED. As for us, we’ll imbibe our tobacco and not-tobacco the old fashioned way, with kittens.