The title is usually given to a word whose usage has increased exponentially during the year to date.
The winning word should ‘reflect the ethos, mood or preoccupations of that particular year and to have lasting potential as a word of cultural significance’. Oxford Dictionaries editor found that the use of the word vape in 2014 had more than doubled compared to 2013.
Vape was first coined in the late 1980s when companies like RJR Nabisco were experimenting with the first ‘smokeless’ cigarettes. The word has not only taken off but has also emerged in new avatars - vaper, vapoholic and vaporium.
Oxford Dictionaries’ editorial director Judy Pearsall said ‘As vaping has gone mainstream, with celebrities from Lindsay Lohan to Barry Manilow giving it a go, and with growing public debate on the public dangers and the need for regulation, so the language usage of the word ‘vape’ and related terms in 2014 has shown a marked increase’.
The winning word should ‘reflect the ethos, mood or preoccupations of that particular year and to have lasting potential as a word of cultural significance’. Oxford Dictionaries editor found that the use of the word vape in 2014 had more than doubled compared to 2013.
Vape was first coined in the late 1980s when companies like RJR Nabisco were experimenting with the first ‘smokeless’ cigarettes. The word has not only taken off but has also emerged in new avatars - vaper, vapoholic and vaporium.
Oxford Dictionaries’ editorial director Judy Pearsall said ‘As vaping has gone mainstream, with celebrities from Lindsay Lohan to Barry Manilow giving it a go, and with growing public debate on the public dangers and the need for regulation, so the language usage of the word ‘vape’ and related terms in 2014 has shown a marked increase’.