"Back, Sack, and Crack" Dictionary Updates

[OneFinger]

Whether it's "back, sack and crack," "heteroflexible," or "going commando," the dictionary is catching up.

 

The latest edition of the Collins English Dictionary published Thursday contains hundreds of new words that its editors say give a snapshot of how society is changing.

 

"Back, sack and crack" -- a beauty parlor waxing procedure made famous by English soccer captain David Beckham -- is officially defined as "(cosmetic depilation of) the back, scrotum and the area between the buttocks."

 

"Heteroflexible" is someone who is usually -- but not always -- heterosexual.

 

"Supersize," the fast food menu word for big portions, can now be both an adjective and a verb, as in "supersize me."

 

And to "go commando" means "to wear no underpants."

 

The dictionary is filled with new terms referring to what Editor-In-Chief Jeremy Butterfield called urban tribes, like "chav" and "chavette," both derogatory British slang for "a young working class person who dresses in casual sports clothes."

 

The related adjective is "chavtastic."

 

There are plenty of examples of language driven by technology. "Instant messaging" and "picture messaging" get definitions for the first time. So do "Wi-fi" and the Internet bank fraud of "phishing."

 

The dictionary occasionally offers helpful advice. The definition of "drink dialing" -- making a phone call while drunk, esp to someone about whom one has romantic notions -- notes that the practice is "inadvisable."

 

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=UEGJRDMC35BFSCRBAELCFFA?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=8745073