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Press Releases
Oxford English Dictionary and the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ launch new Balderdash & Piffle Wordhunt
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The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is asking for public assistance to help them trace the history of 40 well-known words and phrases. The results of this new Wordhunt will feature in hit ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two series Balderdash & Piffle, presented by Victoria Coren, which returns this Spring.
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This year the OED and the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ are appealing via the Balderdash & Piffle Wordhunt for help with words relating to dogs, fashion, and dodgy dealings, as well as for euphemisms, insults and some choice X-rated terms.
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Did anyone go dogging before 1993, have a domestic before 1963 or go to the loo before 1940? The OED needs to know.
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Who was Gordon Bennett, was his name really first invoked in 1967 and, above all, why?
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Is Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset really the birthplace of the marital aid?
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What's so daft about a brush?
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The OED seeks to find the earliest verifiable usage of every single word in the English language – currently 600,000 and counting - and of every separate meaning of every word.
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The 40 words on the new Wordhunt list all have a date next to them - corresponding to the earliest evidence the dictionary currently has for that word or phrase. But can the British public do better?
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Successful findings will not only feature in the new series but will be published in the OED. Some suggestions as to where to start wordhunting can be found at bbc.co.uk/balderdash.
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Some of the nation's favourite insults feature in this year's Wordhunt. The OED is optimistic that help from the public will enable them to improve their dictionary entries for prat, wally, wassock and tosser.
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To join the Wordhunt, people need to find an earlier appearance of the word in a book or a magazine, in a movie script, a fanzine, or even in unpublished papers, letters or a post-marked postcard. It might even appear first online or in a sound recording. The most important thing is that it can be dated.
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So dog's bollocks meaning the bee's knees before 1989, anyone?
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Sometimes the OED can't tell how a word was invented, so these words are listed as origin unknown or origin uncertain and the Balderdash & Piffle team would love to hear convincing theories from the public. If the theory is proved correct it might help in rewriting the dictionary.
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In 2006, Balderdash & Piffle viewers came up trumps by providing evidence to update the dictionary – setting them straight on the ploughman's lunch, the ninety-nine ice cream, and the full monty, among many others.
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John Simpson, Chief Editor of the OED at Oxford University Press, says:
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"Wordhunters made some remarkable discoveries in the last series. They found Wordhunt words tucked away in football fanzines, LPs, school newspapers: just the sort of sources we can't easily get our hands on when we're researching words.
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"It's great that the long-established democratic traditions of the dictionary are continuing. Our first public appeal went out in 1859, and we've been busy collecting information ever since.
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"We've selected 40 words that are puzzling the OED's editors for the new Wordhunt, and we're hoping for some more great results!"
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Notes to Editors
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To submit information to the project, please visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/balderdash or http://oed.com/bbcwordhunt or email balderdash@bbc.co.uk.
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Balderdash & Piffle is a Takeaway Media production for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two.
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The 40 words:
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Man's Best Friend
dog and bone (1961)
the dog's bollocks (1989)
mucky pup (1984)
shaggy dog story* (1946)
sick puppy (1984)
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Put Downs and Insults
plonker (1966)
prat* (1968)
tosser (1977)
wally (1969)
wazzock (1984)
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Spend a Penny
domestic (1963)
glamour model (1981)
loo* (1940)
regime change (1990)
whoopsie (1973)
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Fashionistas
flip-flop (1970)
hoodie (1990)
shell-suit (1989)
stiletto (1959)
trainer (1978)
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X-rated
dogging* (1993)
kinky (1959)
marital aid (1976)
pole dance (1992)
wolf-whistle (1952)
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One Sandwich Short
bananas* (1968)
bonkers* (1957)
daft (or mad) as a brush* (1945)
derr brain / duh brain (1997)
one sandwich short of a picnic (1993)
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Who Were They?
Bloody Mary* (1956)
Gordon Bennett!* (1967)
Jack the Lad (1981)
round robin (1988)
to take the mickey* (1948)
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Dodgy Dealings
bung* (1958)
Glasgow kiss (1987)
identity theft (1991)
spiv* (1934)
twoc (1990)
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*Origin unknown or origin uncertain
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GM
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