Miley Cyrus is credited with bringing "twerking" to mainstream audiences, but Oxford English Dictionary editors say the word is 200 years old, the Associated Press reports.
Two years after Cyrus made "twerking" a household term with her viral MTV Video Music Awards performance, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) finally changed its definition to include the urban dance move that Cyrus is so fond of. Twerking is now described in the dictionary as "in a sexually provocative manner, using thrusting movements of the bottom and hips while in a low, squatting stance," according to the AP.
The OED previously listed the word as referring to a twisting or jerking movement or twitch. Researchers have found that this version of the word dates back to 1820 with the spelling "twirk," according to USA Today.
The first instance of the modern spelling ("twerk") was found in a letter to "Frankenstein" author Mary Shelley, the Washington Post reports.
"Really the Germans do allow themselves such twists and twerks of the pen," Shelley's stepbrother wrote to her, using the word to complain about Germans' handwriting.
OED Senior Editor Fiona McPherson told the AP that the word "twerk" as a description of a dance has its roots in the early '90s New Orleans hip-hop scene.
Other words that were recently added to the OED include the social media term "twitterati" and cigarette alternative "e-cigarette."
