English Language: Do you know your 'helfie' from a 'belfie'?

English language is fast evolving and new words are getting coined even before we know it. Recently Oxford Dictionary selected ‘Selfie’ as the Word of theYear. Selfie means a self-portrait taken in a smart phone or a webcam and uploaded on to a social website. This word has its origin in 2002 when it was used in an Australian online forum.  

This word gained momentum in the English world as it spread rapidly in the social forums. Already there are spin-offs for this word like helfie (picture of one’s hair), belfie (picture of one’s posterior), welfie (workout selfie), drelfie (drunken selfie).   

Similarly App is a well-known word. It is funny that some of us, Andriod users, use this word without actually knowing that it is the short form of application.    SMS words like U (for you), 4U (for you),  ty (thank you), lv (love), ikr (I know right), brb (be right back) and so on, are gaining ground.  Who knows, these words may find their way to the Oxford Dictionary someday!

In this series, let us look at some of the words that have come into existence recently.  

Blook (blend of book and blog)- It is a book written by a blogger.

Flog- A fake blog, created by a company or business to advertise their own products or service.  

Screenager- A teenager who spends lot of time in front of computer screen.

Tweeps (blend of twitter and people)- Users who follow you on twitter. 

By Madhumitha Raghavan 

The writer is a first year Media & Communication student.