“Selfie” has been named the word of the year by the editors of the Oxford Dictionaries.
According to Editorial Director Judy Pearsall, there is a “phenomenal upward trend” of people using this word, thus taking it through the committee’s selection rounds.
This word originated in an Australian forum in 2002 and appeared as a hashtag on Flickr in 2004. The word was not widely used until 2013.
At first, “selfie” was spelled with a “y”, but the “-ie” suffix has become more common, as Australians have a penchant for “-ie” words.
There are also variants of this word, such as “helfie”, which is a portmanteau of “hairstyle” and “selfie”, and “drelfie” for drunken selfie.
Other notable words which made the shortlist include “binge-watch”, which refers to watching multiple episodes of one’s favorite TV series in one go, and “twerk”, as popularized by Miley Cyrus.
What do you think—does “selfie” deserve to be crowned word of the year?
[via The Guardian]