Most people remember the phrase "yada yada" from a memorable episode of Seinfeld, but Lenny Bruce was using it in his act back in 1967. Since that Seinfeld episode, however, it’s become an indelible part of the English language. Today, "yada yada" receives linguistic legitimacy and enters the Oxford English Dictionary, along with thousands of other new and revised entries.
yada yada:
- Indicating (usually dismissively) that further details are predictable or evident from what has preceded: ‘and so on,’ ‘blah blah blah.’
- Trivial, meaningless, or uninteresting talk or writing; chatter.
Every day, Oxford lexicographers collect new examples of word usage from all forms of communication-books, newspapers, blogs, and more. They use the latest technology to store and analyze the data for possible inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Included in this latest update: Plan B, 401(k), plasma TV, off-book, backlist, counterterrorism, Plato’s cave, bar band, mash-up, Macarena, Texas Hold ‘Em, pitchers’ duel, speed dating, Pin code, Planet X, just war, blonde moment, Plantagenet, super-max, dirt bag, dust bunny, kazoo, J-pop, heroin chic, vibe, wazoo, freakazoid, hacktivist, air kiss and pissing contest.
"Words mean what they do because of how they are currently used, not how they were used 500 years ago, and not how they were used in Latin 2000 years ago," explains Jesse Sheidlower, Editor at Large of the Oxford English Dictionary. "English has always expanded and it will continue to expand." A complete list of the new and updated entries is available online at https://dictionary.oed.com/help/updates/pimesic-pleating.html
The Oxford English Dictionary is widely acknowledged to be the most authoritative and comprehensive lexicon of English in the world. It is also the definitive record of English language development, tracing the evolution of more than 600,000 words over the last 1500 years through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of sources.
This article was last modified on January 8, 2023
This article was first published on June 22, 2006
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