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Originally Posted by Telegraph Now, the word "phwoar" - meaning an "expression of enthusiastic or lubricious approval" - has gained official entry to the English language, appearing in the pages of the latest Oxford English Dictionary of Modern Slang.
The book also provides plenty for readers to give their lubricious approval of, including "stud muffin" - an attractive man - and "arm candy" - a good-looking date.
Both these could presumably be described as "fit", which has become used as common shorthand for "sexually attractive", according to the book.
Its authors said that the growth of the internet had led to young people on both sides of the Atlantic regularly swapping phrases, meaning new American slang terms now lodge themselves in British culture quicker than ever before.
These include "hairy eyeball" - the look made by someone expressing "hostility or disapproval", and "mallrat" - someone who spends too much time hanging around shopping centres.
With origins closer to home is the "oggy", a Cornish word dating back to 1948 used to describe a pasty half filled with meat and vegetables and half with fruit, which has apparently made a culinary comeback.
The new edition of the book also incorporates recent innovations in Cockney rhyming slang, including "Britneys" for beers - to rhyme with the name of the singer Britney Spears.
The creators of the book, which is published by Oxford University Press, said they had aimed to preserve a section of the language that might otherwise be forgotten.
John Ayto, the book's co-editor, said: "Thousands of new slang words and expressions have flooded into the English language, most of them to be flushed away summarily.
"Slang has a reputation for being ephemeral, for coming into the language and then going again."
The book includes 6,000 slang words and expressions, including 350 brand new words, while another 1,000 words have had their existing meanings expanded or altered, he said. |
Phwoar! 
