BBC News Online: UK

Girl power goes mainstream

Girl power makes it into the dictionary

The girl power phrase popularised by the Spice Girls in the 1990s is described as "a self-reliant attitude among girls and young women manifested in ambition, assertiveness and individualism."

But a 'riot girl' or a 'grrrl' also makes it into the latest version of the dictionary published on Thursday.

She is said to be a more militant creature defined as a member of "a movement expressing feminist resistance to male domination in society".

Changing lifestyles

High street is now included as an adjective to mean "popular or mainstream".

Also making an appearance in the dictionary is the Japanese term karoshi meaning "death brought on by overwork or job-related exhaustion".

Another new word is comper - defined as "a person who habitually enters competitions in order to win as many prizes as possible".

Changing lifestyles are also reflected with the inclusion of phrases such as home cinema and home shopping.

Other new entries include ecofeminism, ecotourism and detangler.

Technical, technological and scientific terms feature strongly in the latest online version of the dictionary.

A microbrewery, defined as "a brewery which produces limited quantities of beer, often for consumption locally or on its own premises", is among scientific terms beginning with micro- or meta.

More than 10,000 new entries have been added to the site on www.oed.com since March 2000.

The dictionary's editors have spent the year trawling through popular culture for words that have become popular.