Wednesday, August 28, 2013 2:18pm ET by  
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'Twerking' added to the Oxford English Dictionary

It has been revealed that the word 'twerking' has now been added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

The term applies to a particular kind of dancing (shown below) and it has been publicised by Miley Cyrus, who uploaded a video of herself working it out earlier this year, along with the likes of One Direction, Leona Lewis and countless other music stars over the past twelve months.

Oxford Dictionaries' Katherine Connor Martin explained to the BBC that it's a term frequently used so it seemed appropriate to acknowledge it with an entry: "By last year, it had generated enough currency to be added to our new words watch list, and by the spring, we had enough evidence of usage frequency in a breadth of sources to consider adding it to our dictionaries of current English."

Martin added: "There are many theories about the origin of this word, and since it arose in oral use, we may never know the answer for sure. The current public reaction to twerking is reminiscent in some ways of how the twisting craze was regarded in the early 1960s, when it was first popularised by Chubby Checker's song, 'The Twist'."

 

 

 

 

 

Watch footage of Harry Styles 'twerking' at the 2013 Teen Choice Awards here: