‘Twerk’ has officially been added to the Oxford Dictionary
Posted August 27, 2013 10:56 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
“Twerking” has become mainstream after the entry will was added to the Oxford Dictionary Tuesday.
According to Britain’s Oxford Dictionaries, the gyrations recently displayed by pop-star Miley Cyrus has become increasingly visible in the past 12 months and the word would be added to publications under the entry: “Twerk, verb.”
The Associated Press reports that Oxford Dictionaries’ Katherine Connor Martin said “twerking” was two decades old.
“There are many theories about the origin of this word, and since it arose in oral use, we may never know the answer for sure,” Martin said. “We think the most likely theory is that it is an alteration of work, because that word has a history of being used in similar ways, with dancers being encouraged to ‘work it.’ The ‘t’ could be a result of blending with another word such as twist or twitch.”
The official definition of is: “Twerk, v.: dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance.”
The dictionary will add “twerk,” “selfie,” and “digital detox,” to the next quarterly update.
“Selfie” is typically used to describe smartphone self-portraits. “Digital detox” for time spent away from Facebook and Twitter.
