‘Twerking’, the provocative dance move made popular by Miley Cyrus, has been added to the the Oxford English Dictionary.
The word is one of 500 new entries, including ‘twitterati’ (describing users of the social media service), and ‘fo’ shizzle’ (meaning ‘for sure’), added to the dictionary.
Twerking, which the dictionary describes as dancing ‘in a sexually provocative manner, using thrusting movements of the bottom and hips while in a low, squatting stance’, has its roots in the early 1990s New Orleans ‘bounce’ music scene.
Research by the Oxford English Dictionary has found the term was first used in 1820 as a noun spelt ‘twirk’, meaning a ‘twisting jerking movement’ or ‘twitch’. It then emerged as a verb by 1848 and the modern spelling was adopted by 1901.
Miss Cyrus, 22, caused a furore when she performed the move on stage an awards ceremony in 2013 wearing very little clothing.
Twerk is one of 500 new entries in the OED. Others include ‘twitterati’, describing users of social networking site Twitter, e-cigarette, the devices containing a nicotine-based liquid that is vaporized and inhaled, and FLOTUS, the acronym for First Lady of the United States which is now Michelle Obama’s official twitter username.
The Oxford English Dictionary records the meaning and development of the English language. For a word to qualify, it must have been have been in popular use for at least 10 years in both novels and newspapers.
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