The Oxford English Dictionary is the unrivalled reference to the meaning, history and pronunciation of the English language. It defines over half a million words, and its ten volumes took 50 years to compile.

These days, the OED's lexicographers publish quarterly updates to the online edition. In the September 2016 update, they added a number of words made famous in the works of Roald Dahl, on the centenary of his birth. These included ’scrumdiddlyumptious’ and ‘human bean’.

As well as the above, many other new words were added to the dictionary. Well-known ones include 'Westminster bubble’, ‘YOLO’, ‘moobs’, and (my favourite) ‘custard-like’. The others were maybe a little more obscure, but how many of them can you identify? I've listed 20 of the new words added in September 2016, and have given four possible definitions for each — can you spot the correct one?

You'll find a link to the answers at the foot of the page, but no peeking until you've guessed them all!

1. Ah Beng


a) chav

b) flat-bottomed boat

c) fried insects

d) village elder

2. arnis


a) low point

b) market trader

c) martial art

d) nerve ending

3. balut


a) boiled egg delicacy

b) civil servant

c) necklace

d) whale blubber

4. biffy


a) bat

b) cigarette

c) pub drink

d) toilet

5. bodoh


a) freeze-dried

b) illegal

c) plump

d) stupid

6. chiva


a) Asian cat

b) bravado

c) heel

d) heroin

7. clifty


a) to collect

b) to lie

c) to repair

d) to steal

8. cusum


a) animal fat

b) black magic

c) cumulative sum in statistics

d) film director's instruction

9. filmi geet


a) artichoke curry

b) cinema-goer

c) Indian film soundtrack music

d) magistrate

10. fody


a) detective

b) knife

c) selfie stick

d) weaver bird

11. foefie slide


a) cocktail

b) snowboard racing circuit

c) stock market crash

d) zip line

12. lola


a) grandmother

b) plant cell

c) space camera

d) transvestite

13. skronk


a) computer game novice

b) guitar noise

c) methadone

d) refugee

14. sugo


a) black sugar

b) fine silk

c) Italian sauce

d) martial art

15. swirlie


a) cappuchino pattern

b) financial fraudster

c) having one's head forced down a flushing toilet as a prank

d) policeman

16. transmat


a) commerce

b) conveyor belt

c) laminate

d) teleporter device

17. unsub


a) anonymous criminal suspect

b) surface ship

c) to replace a substitute

d) unsubscribe from a messageboard conversation

18. wantruke


a) doll

b) failure

c) marine invertebrate

d) wine

19. yaya


a) birthday cake

b) carer

c) cattle

d) stringed instrument

20. yohimbe


a) antelope

b) aphrodisiac

c) dance of political protest

d) motorcycle rickshaw

All done? Click the picture for the answers.

Icy's Quizzes and More Archive

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