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Thursday, 12 July, 2001, 15:31 GMT 16:31 UK
Ned arrives - it's official
![]() Neds - as portrayed by the stars of Chewing the Fat
A host of Scottish slang words have made an appearance in the latest edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary.
Neds, mingers, bladdered, numpty and stooshie have all become part of official English language. They are terms which have long been viewed as playground and pub slang and have gained comic credentials recently on programmes such as BBC Scotland's award-winning Chewin' the Fat series. Now the wordsmiths at the Oxford University Press have given them dictionary status. New dictionary entries also include text message abbreviations as editors aim to keep in step with a constantly evolving language.
One of the latest entries is ned, defined as a hooligan or petty criminal, a stupid or loutish boy or man. Numpty is another new word in the dictionary. This is a stupid or ineffectual person, who if they were foul-smelling, would be defined as minging. Further along in the dictionary is the word stooshie - a word once in fashion with many a commentator - meaning a row or fracas. The word "at" has shrunk to an e-mail symbol and even the mobile phone has been shortened to "mobe".
Scooters are "microscooters," ridden by "tweenagers", children aged between 10 and 14. There are also terms describing new social groups, such as yahs - upper class people - and ladettes, defined as young women who behave in a boisterously assertive manner and engage in heavy drinking. The new dictionary includes plenty of terms from the world of new technology. 'Taking on new meanings' ADSL, asymmetric digital subscriber line, and MP3, which compresses and downloads audio files, are included. In all there are 130 new words and terms in the new dictionary which was last revised two years ago. A spokeswoman from the Concise Oxford Dictionary said: "We are continually monitoring changes to the language in order to keep our dictionaries as up to date as possible. "New words are constantly being introduced, and existing words are taking on new meanings." |
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