Photo: Klaus Hoffmann
Rark up, sweet as and mōrena have made it into the pages of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Eleven words of New Zealand or te reo Māori origin have been included as part of the dictionary's World English update, which also features Caribbean, East African, Welsh, and Manx (Isle of Man) revisions and additions.
In a statement, the Oxford University Press said the updates marked "a significant stride in tracking the growth of English vocabulary worldwide".
The full list of New Zealand English words added are:
- cuzzy bro, noun
- hapū, adjective
- lifestyler, n, sense 3
- lux, verb 2
- mōrena, int
- rark, v
- rark up, n
- sweet as, adj
- to climb into (someone), in climb, v
- to deal to (someone), v
- trundler, n
The first of the dictionary's World English additions last year saw 'waka jumper', 'chilly bin' and 'tikanga Māori' join the pages of the 150-year-old dictionary.
The dictionary said 'sweet as' came into usage in 1985, and functioned as a general term of approval for things considered to be excellent or fantastic, and as an interjection to "express emphatic affirmation, agreement, or appreciation".
Lux, which dated back to 1980 as a verb, meant to vacuum, specifically with an appliance made by the Electrolux company.
The latest update also featured words originating in te reo Māori or used chiefly in Māori contexts - the adjective hapū (1948) to mean pregnant; the greeting mōrena (1969), meaning good morning; and cuzzy bro (1991).
Other words from around the globe that made into the OED included 'poody', a Welsh English word meaning 'to have a fit of sullen or petulant ill temper; to sulk', first recorded as an intransItive verb in 1986.
Poody came from the Welsh pwdu 'to sulk', which came from the English word pout. The more recent noun form (1994), referred to a fit of sullen or petulant ill temper or a childish sulk, and was now used chiefly in the phrases 'in a poody' and 'to have a poody', according to the dictionary.
The Carribean English phrase 'Carry-go-bring-come' dated to1825, meant a gossip, or a person who spreads it.
"This noun, made up of four high-frequency verbs strung together, is derived from Caribbean English phrases like to bring (something) and come, to bring (something) come, and to carry (something) come, all meaning 'to bring (something) back' or 'to get (something) and bring it', with 'news' as the implied object."
The verb phrases reflected syntax of several West African languages. Several Caribbean nations had their own versions, such as Saint Vincent, where people use 'bring-and-carry'. In Trinidad and Tobago, 'bring-back-carry-come' was the usual term, whereas in the British Virgin Islands, it was 'bring-come-and-carry-go'.
The influence of Manx Gaelic on Manx English could be seen in loan words like 'cooish' (1878), which meant a friendly conversation or chat. The OED entry said that use of cooish was borrowed from the Manx usage of 'cause, matter, or business', which came from the Early Irish word, cúis, meaning 'cause, matter, (legal) controversy'.
