The authors of the Oxford English Dictionary keeps on adding new words into the dictionary every now and then.  The latest Indian word to get entry into the Oxford dictionary is ‘Chuddies’. The meaning provided for Chuddies in the dictionary is “Short trousers, shorts. Now usually: underwear; underpants.” Other than Chuddies around 650 words have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary.  The main purpose of adding the 650 new words to the dictionary is to expand the coverage of regional vocabulary.

“Chuddies” is now official an English word.
. pic.twitter.com/44SeJuICsz

— 𝕭𝖆𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖚𝖗 (@my2bit) March 22, 2019

These new words are added as a part of quarterly March update.  The other words to enter the book are pony bottles, jibbons and kitbasher, among others.  The English meaning for Chuddies was given as “Short trousers, shorts. Now usually: underwear; underpants.”

Its official guys! “Chuddies” are among 650 new entries recognised as English words by Oxford Dictionary in a latest update released today. Ab zor se bolne mein kya sharmana? #ChaddiEntersOxford

— Junaiz Mohammed (@JunaizMohammed) March 21, 2019

In a blog post, the Oxford English Dictionary explains how the word became popular and the made it’s place in the dictionary.  The post read, “Our coverage of British Indian usage gets an update with the addition of the dismissive kiss my chuddies (underpants), popularized as a catchphrase by actor and writer Sanjeev Bhaskar playing one half of the teenage duo known as the Bhangra Muffins in the 1990s BBC comedy sketch show Goodness Gracious Me.”

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Chuddies and 650 other words enters Oxford Dictionary

So, now Chuddies is an official English word.  Indians can now feel absolutely free to use the word without any hesitation.  Coming to the reactions of the public over adding Chuddies to the English Dictionary, they were quite amusing.  People reacted with quite enthusiasm over adding Chuddies to the OED.

One tweet read, ” Its official guys! “Chuddies” are among 650 new entries recognised as English words by Oxford Dictionary in a latest update released today. Ab zor se bolne mein kya sharmana?”

Other words that made way into the dictionary include  jibbons – the Welsh English word for “spring onions”, sitooterie – a Scottish word for “a place to sit out in”, and dof – a borrowing from Afrikaans meaning “stupid, ill-informed or clueless”.

According to the Guardian, these words were added as part of OED’s ‘Words Where You Are’ appeal, launched last year.  This allows English speakers from around the world to update the dictionary with regional words. Many English speakers are showing great interest in adding up words to the Oxford dictionary.  It can be expected that many new Indian words will make their entry into the dictionary in the coming future.

Published by Neetu Panwar on 22 Mar 2019