英語學習點: New Words in the Dictionary 字典新詞

The web-savvy amongst you will know that just as a mouse is no longer only a rodent, a tweet isn't necessarily a noise made by a bird.

Nearly a quarter of the new words added to the latest edition of the Chambers Dictionary come from internet culture, with the economic recession and climate change also contributing strongly.

The internet age's ability to reinvent old words with new meanings continues. The cloud, you may think, is the thing above your head which produces rain. It's not as simple as that any more.

We all know what pay is, right? And a wall is a wall – as in The Great Wall of... But what about a paywall? Can you work it out?

Moving onto the economy, words such as quantitative easing and double-dip recession have become familiar to followers of current affairs.

Amongst the environmental terms now appearing in the dictionary you can find upcycle and precycle as well as carbon offsetting.

National treasure, neet, man flu, crowdsourcing and staycation are also officially recognised for the first time.

And there are some abbreviations made popular by email and social networking sites. When you're surprised you can write OMG (Oh my God) and if you really like someone, BFF (best friend forever) is the expression for you.