The Oxford Online Dictionary announced the word "twerk" has been added to the dictionary. The gyrating dance craze now has its own entry in the English dictionary and a formal definition to go along with it.
"Twerk, v." dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance."
In case the definition isn't clear enough Oxford even included some examples of how the word could be used in a sentence.
"Just wait till they catch their daughters twerking to this song," and "Twerk it girl, work it girl."
For some people, their introduction to the word might have been during Miley Cyrus' MTV VMA performance with Robin Thicke but the word has actually been around for a very long time, the Huffington Post reports. Many fans of the hip hop community already know the term as a dance move many girls do their favorite songs.
Oxford's Dictionaires' Katherine Connor Martin explained to the Huffington Post that the word has been around for almost two decades.
"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," Martin said. "We think the most likely theory is that it is an alternation of work, because that word has a history of being used in similar ways, with dancers being encouraged to 'work it.' The 't' could be a result of blending it with another word such a twist or twitch."
So, why exactly was "twerk" added to the dictionary? Usage. According to the Huffington Post, every quarter the dictionary decides what new terms should be added and it comes down to how often the term is being used and who is using it.
According to the Oxford Dictionary "when we have evidence of a new word term being used in a variety of different sources (not just by one writer) it becomes a candidate for inclusion in one of our dictionaries."
Other terms added to the dictionary included "selfie," "girl crush," "digital detox," and "Bitcoin."
