Vape is the word of the year: Do you still remember these past words of the year?

This Sept 25, 2013, photo illustration taken in Washington, DC, shows a woman smoking a "Blu" e-cigarette (electronical cigarette).Smoking is out but vaping is apparently in. -- PHOTO: AFP
This Sept 25, 2013, photo illustration taken in Washington, DC, shows a woman smoking a "Blu" e-cigarette (electronical cigarette).Smoking is out but vaping is apparently in. -- PHOTO: AFP

Smoking is out but vaping is apparently in.

Vape is the word of the year, the editorial team at Oxford Dictionaries has announced. Use of the word has risen along with the popularity of the electronic cigarettes it refers to.

"Vaping has gone mainstream," with usage doubling in 2014 compared to 2013, editorial director Judy Pearsall said.

Both verb and noun, it can be used to mean inhaling and exhaling the vapour of e-cigarettes, or to the devices themselves.

Do you remember these past words of the year?

1 Selfie (2013)

This doesn't really need any explanation. You've either done it, or hate it. But for the record, it's "a photograph that you take of yourself, typically with your smartphone".

In an update on the use of the word on its blog, Oxford says that the word is increasingly being used interchangeably with "photograph", even those taken by others.

2. GIF, as a verb (2012)

GIF stands for graphics interchange format and is used for simple animations. But in 2012, the 25th anniversary of the file format, "to GIF" came into more common usage.

Like "Photoshop" or "Google", the word has evolved from a noun into a verb.

3. Unfriend (2009)

The verb "unfriend", now associated with Facebook and other social networks, dates back to 1659, according to Oxford Dictionaries.

It existed even earlier as a noun - as far back as 1275, meaning "one who is not a friend", that is an enemy.

4. Locavore (2007)

The increasing use of local produce and seasonally available ingredients in cooking is still a worldwide trend today.

The founders of the movement proposed that local residents should try to eat only food grown or produced within a 100-mile radius, according to the New York Times.

5. Sudoku (2005)

A number logic puzzle that gained in popularity then, it is translated from the Japanese.

"Su" means "number" and "doku" can mean "single" in Japanese. It is an abbreviation of a longer name which means "the number must appear only once".

chuimin@sph.com.sg

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