EDMONTON – The editors of the Oxford English Dictionaries have picked “vape” as the word of the year for 2014.
The word is most commonly used to describe e-cigarettes. It originated as an abbreviation of vapour or vaporize. The definition was added to Oxford’s online dictionary August 2014 as a verb meaning “to inhale and exhale vapour produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device.”
Editors say we are now 30 times more likely to come across the word than a few years ago, when e-cigarettes first hit the market.
“Vape” beat out words like “budtender” (the person at a marijuana dispensary), “bae” (the Danish word for poop, according to the Urban Dictionary, but it’s usually used as a term of endearment for a romantic partner), and “slacktivism” (the practice of lazily supporting causes online) for the 2014 honour.
The 2013 word of the year was “selfie.” The year before that, “gif” won the spot over “YOLO.”
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