A number of words from various countries, including South Africa, have been added to the latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
The OED added words which it said were “untranslatable”.
The South African words that were added included “yoh,” “gatvol,” “makarapa,” “moggy,” and “sharp-sharp”.
The new update also included words such as “gigil” which is from the Filipino language, Tagalog, and means ‘to find oneself speechless in the presence of overwhelming cuteness’. Another word included was “alamak”, which is used as an expression of surprise in Malayasia and Singapore.
A number of words from Irish English were also included.
The OED defines about 600,000 words, making it one of the most comprehensive dictionaries in the English-speaking world. Each year the dictionary’s editors consider for inclusion new words that have entered the English lexicon.
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