Oxford Dictionary Adds ‘Tweet’ to List of Lexicon

The word ‘tweet’, in relation to social media, has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), breaking the rule which says a new word must be current for a decade before inclusion. The addition is marked as a ‘quiet announcement’ on the dictionary’s June 2013 update. Chief editor and lexicographer, John Simposon, said: “The noun and verb tweet (in the social-networking sense) has just been added to the OED.” Other new word entries include flash mob, live blog, mani-pedi, geekery and jolly hickey sticks. The word has been used only since 2007, the dictionary says, one year after the launch of Twitter. To tweet, says the entry, is to “make a posting on the social networking service Twitter. Also: to use Twitter regularly or habitually.”