Generative artificial intelligence, talkboard, and dumb phone are among the new technology words and phrases that have entered the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
The latest update to this dictionary includes over 500 new and revised words, phrases, and senses, including many words related to spirit, oath jar, and conversation.
As AI and technology have continued to evolve over the past quarter, the language surrounding AI has followed suit.
Among the new additions to the OED is generative artificial intelligence (AI). This refers to “a form of artificial intelligence designed to produce output previously thought to require human intelligence, especially text and images.”
Although the language has become more common in recent years, the earliest known use of the phrase dates back to the early 2000s, according to dictionaries.
It also added talkboards, which are related to “online forums or chat rooms,” and dumbphones, which are phones without smart technology.
This comes as some people revert to basic phones or buy additional basic phones to minimize screen time.
A number of general elections are scheduled for the new year around the world, including the UK, and several political terms have been entered, including tumocracy.
The dictionary defines the word as “a governmental or exercise of power characterized by the appointment of a friend or colleague to a position of authority without due regard to qualifications or due process.”
Phrases related to profanity also appeared with the latest updates to Sword jar and Sword Box. Typical British expressions such as eff and blind also appeared.
Psych, used playfully when someone is playing a prank, was also typed alongside -splain following the rise of words like mansplaining.
The dictionary has also been updated with some talk-related words, with talkholic, talkfest, and the talk all added.
To qualify for listing, the OED requires several independent instances of a word being used, and requires evidence that the word has been used for a “reasonable period of time.”
This dictionary is updated quarterly and its updates constitute the third edition of the OED.
The OED statement says, “Material added to the dictionary includes revised versions of existing entries (replacing older versions) and new words and meanings across the alphabetical and A to Z ranges of the revised entries. ”. ”
