OMG, the Oxford English Dictionary Added New Words! We ‘Heart’ It! LOL!

According to the OED, the newest edition of the dictionary revises more than 1,900 entries and includes a ton of new words — including the neologisms above.

So what do OMG and LOL mean to the OED? In the electronic realm, they’re merely shorthand for surprise and laughter. In the real-world space — according to the OED’s blog post — “The intention is usually to signal an informal, gossipy mode of expression, and perhaps parody the level of unreflective enthusiasm or overstatement that can sometimes appear in online discourse, while at the same time marking oneself as an ‘insider’ au fait with the forms of expression associated with the latest technology.”

The OED also reveals that these neologisms aren’t as neo as we might think: The first quotation the dictionary uses for the definition of OMG is from a letter dating back to 1917, and LOL meant “little old lady” back in 1960.

The heart sign (<3), however, is perhaps the most interesting addition. As the post says, “This update may be the first English usage to develop via the medium of T-shirts and bumper-stickers.”

One thing to keep in mind is that popular culture is major driver of new vocabulary. Once a word makes it in, it is never removed even if it becomes antiquated; the purpose of the OED is to exist as a comprehensive, living history of the language.

Grove Art and Music Online Updates

We are pleased to announce updates to both the Grove Art and Music Online databases.

With this update there is new content added to Grove Music Online from the forthcoming second edition of the Grove Dictionary of American Music (AmeriGrove), edited by Charles Hiroshi Garrett. The first edition (1986) is widely considered the definitive reference work on the subject, and while some of the topics in this update appeared in the first edition, all are completely new to Grove Music Online and have b

een updated for the project. Highlights include articles on the Centennial Exhibition, Fadette Ladies' Orchestra of Boston, Wagnerism, Preservation, and Society for Music Theory.

This AmeriGrove update continues to increase Grove’s coverage in 19th-century music, and these 200 new entries focus primarily on 19th-century concert music. You will also find a number of new entries on scholars, librarians, and organ music. There are now over 750 articles from AmeriGrove in Grove Music Online.

We invite you to explore this AmeriGrove update through this sampling of entries added:

19th Century Music
Frederick Horace Clark
Caryl Florio
Hermann Kotzschmar
Sängerfest

Arthur W. Tams

Organ Music
Mildred Andrews Boggess
Peter Erben
Austin Cole Lovelace
Anthony Newman
Emerson Richards

Scholars and Librarians
Adrienne Fried Block
Virginia Danielson
Eva Judd O'Meara
Catherine Parsons Smith
Robert Walser

The Science and Contemporary Art Update

Under the direction of Jean Robertson, Professor of Art History at Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, and Grove Advisory Editor for Contemporary Art, this update examines the propensity of artists working in the late 20th and early 21st centuries to incorporate aspects of science in their work. Oxford is pleased to introduce a wide variety of new and revised essays and biographies to Grove Art Online.

We invite you to explore the science and contemporary art update:

Essays

• Science and contemporary art
• Bio Art
• Science and art

Biographies

• Joseph Beuys
• Critical Art Ensemble
• Wim Delvoye
• Carsten Höller
• Eduardo Kac
• Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle
• Marta de Menezes
• Mariko Mori
• Cornelia Parker
• Marc Quinn
• Matthew Ritchie
• Stelarc

Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art

With this update, you will be the first to access new articles from the forthcoming Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art, edited by Colum P. Hourihane, Director of the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University.

Here are some highlights from this group:

• Alchemy
• Arthurian legends in medieval art
• Astrology, medieval
• Bohun manuscripts
• Hugo Buchthal
• Female monasticism
• Girona Creation Tapestry
• International Center of Medieval Art
• Legends in medieval art
• Mappa mundi
• Opicinus de Canistris
• Otto Pächt
• Physiologus
• Anne Prache
• Ravello
• Sarajevo Haggadah
• Somme le roi
• Spolia in medieval art and architecture
• Stavelot Triptych

Grove Encyclopedia of American Art

Since early 2010, several batches of articles from the forthcoming Grove Encyclopedia of American Art, edited by Joan Marter, Professor of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Editor of Woman's Art Journal have been added. Drawing upon the expansive scholarship in The Dictionary of Art, The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art will deal with all aspects of American art from Native American architecture to contemporary installation art. A few select highlights from this update:

• Laylah Ali
• Art Front
• John Biggers
• Broadacre City
• Camera Work
• Chinese Revolutionary Artists' Club
• Robert Colescott
• Roy DeCarava
• Diller Scofidio + Renfro
• Kota Ezawa
• Fashion Moda
• Ada Louise Huxtable
• Kerry James Marshall
• Museum of Modern Art, New York