KUALA LUMPUR: Two Malaysian words have officially entered the English language lexicon – Mamak and Rendang.
They are among 1,200 new entries in the latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which is widely considered “the definitive record of the English language.”
Mamak and Rendang are also among 500 “foreign” terms widely spoken across English-speaking parts of the globe, added to the dictionary. Other such words include Aiyah and Aiyoh, Ang Pow, Kopitiam, Char Kway Teow and Hainanese Chicken Rice.
A number of new English colloquialisms and slang terms also made the cut – like YOLO, the acronym for “you only live once”; Squee, meaning squeal of joy; and Moobs, a portmanteau of “man boobs”.
The OED also tipped its hat to the British writer Roald Dahl, and embraced his whimsical coinages like Oompa Loompa, from Dahl’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; and Scrumdiddlyumptious, from his book, BFG.
Other entries of note include the Star Trek-inspired Transporter; Uptalk, signifying the rise in a voice’s tone at the end of a sentence as if asking a question; and Yogalates, a combination of Yoga and Pilates.-nst