‘Simples’, ‘funemployment’ and ‘tweetheart’ are all new words listed
in the latest edition of Collins English Dictionary, which went on sale
yesterday.


The new expressions entering the dictionary, and their meanings according to Collins, include:


Simples – Aleksandr the Meerkat’s catch-line from the popular comparethemarket.com advert

Fauxmance – a fictitious romance between two celebrities concocted in order to gain press coverage

Cleggmania – referring to the spike of interest in Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg during the last election

Tweetheart – a Twitter user admired by others

BGT – short for Britain’s Got Talent

Greige – a colour between grey and beige

Bigotgate – referring to then Prime Minister Gordon Brown calling a voter a bigot during the election campaign

Funemployment – The condition of enjoying being unemployed
Broken
society – a perceived or apparent decline in moral values referring to
Prime Minister David Cameron’s catch-phrase during the election campaign
Chindonesia – China, India, and Indonesia: the area with the most important developing economies in the world
Con-Lib – The set-up of the current coalition government


The
new words do in many ways reflect the changes in our society over the
last year, including a batch of words from the election campaign such
as ‘Cleggmania’, ‘Bigotgate’, ‘Con-Lib’ and ‘Broken society’, which no
one would have ever heard of a year ago.

And whether you like him or loathe him, who doesn’t know Aleksandr the Meerkat and his ‘Simples’ tag line. 

‘Fauxmance’
has also become a popular term of late, as attention seeking celebs
chase publicity. Relationships who’ve been branded ‘fauxmances’ in the
press are Twilight’s Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart, Big Brother’s
Chantelle Houghton and Samuel Preston, and singers/limelight-grabbers
Peter Andre and Kerry Katona.
 
So why do we need all these new words you might wonder.

Elaine
Higgleton, the editorial director of Collins English Dictionaries
explains: “The popularity of television, advertising, and the phenomena
of celebrity continues to be a predominant preoccupation with the
British public”.


’Never far from the headlines, it is
unsurprising that a barrage of media has infiltrated the minds of the
UK – to the point where coined words BGT, simples! and fauxmance have
been warranted inclusion within the Collins English Dictionary,” she
continued.

– Inger Smith