Public Servant Lifestyle

The phrase "Girl Power" is a new addition to the Oxford English Dictionary. But the Spice Girls were not the first to use it.

The Oxford English Dictionary Online has been updated and amongst the new entries is Girl Power. Defined as "power exercised by girls; spec. a self-reliant attitude among girls and young women manifested in ambition, assertiveness, and individualism", the term is one of several hundred that have just been added to the OED Online, the new version of the world famous authority on the English language.

Riot Girl

The Spice Girls are credited with using the term in the late 1990s; however, riot girls (also a new entrant to the dictionary) adopted Girl Power in the early 90s, in the United States. A riot girl, also known as a grrrl, (another new entry) "a young woman perceived as strong or aggressive, especially in her attitude to men or in her expression of feminine independence and sexuality", is defined in general terms as a member of a "movement expressing feminist resistance to male domination in society and especially to the abuse and harassment of women."

The new words added to the OED Online come from all areas of the English language. Home cinema, home shopping, and home shopper have been added, as have Ayurveda (a form of holistic healing), and related terms dosha, kapha, vata, and pitta. High street as an adjective meaning "popular, mainstream" has also made it into the OED Online. Feeding frenzy, decaf, Dolcelatte, herbal medicine, Haircare, frizzy, and vital force are all included in the latest update. Comper, "a person who habitually enters competitions in order to win as many prizes as possible" and comping, "the practice of entering numerous competitions in order to win as many prizes as possible", are two other new entries.

Ethernet

Computing terms added include Ethernet, FTP, telnet, Usenet, and hot-link, which can mean "a link between documents or applications which enables data from one source to be incorporated into another", as well as a "spicy sausage". Business-related terms include dress-down, power dressing and power dresser, dump bin, internal audit, and also from Japan the term karoshi meaning "death brought on by overwork or job-related exhaustion."

Further highlighting the range of entries, other new terms include false memory, ecofeminism, ecotourism, gimp, kecks, detangler, and high-top fade.

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