OMG! Text shorthand makes the dictionary

25.03.2011
Texting has come a long way.

The Oxford English Dictionary has added some new words -- and shorthands or initialisms -- to its esteemed dictionary. And the tech world was well-represented.

OMG, which represents "oh my God," and LOL, which means laughing out loud, both made the March additions to the dictionary. And while most everyone who texts or uses instant messaging makes use of these two shorthands, the dictionary also added IMHO (in my humble opinion), TMI (too much information), and BFF (best friends forever) to its catalog of words.

"Of course in such a context initialisms are quicker to type than the full forms, and, in the case of text messages, or Twitter, for example, they help to say more in media where there is a limit to a number of characters one may use in a single message," the dictionary noted in an online statement. "OMG and LOL are found outside of electronic contexts, however; in print, and even in spoken use."

Tech-related words are becoming more mainstream.

Early last year, the American Dialect Society, an association that studies the English language announced that "tweet" was the top word of 2009, and -- the verb, not the noun - was the top word of the past decade.