Collins Dictionary look for Tweet-tastic new words

Do you think using a #duckface in your #nomakeupselfie is #adorkable? Then Collins Dictionary want to hear from you!

The Collins English Dictionary is using Twitter to find new words for their next edition. Users are being asked to choose which words should make the cut.

The shortlist of words includes fracktivist, which refers to someone who protests against fracking, and felfie – which describes a farmer who takes a selfie.

It will be the first edition of the dictionary to contain a word that has been voted for by Twitter users.

Today we’re launching #Twictionary, where you can vote your favourite word into the print edition of @CollinsDict http://t.co/lfXLH1es9Y

— Collins Dictionary (@CollinsDict) May 19, 2014

Twitter users have until midnight on May 28 to vote for the new word. The winning word will go straight into the next edition of the dictionary in October.

The rise of social media and the use of hashtags has seen new words and ideas become mainstream much quicker.

#adorkable #fatberg & #gaybourhood are leading the lunchtime votes. Which one will make it into print? http://t.co/Cd7tkIJBW5 #Twictionary

— Collins Dictionary (@CollinsDict) May 19, 2014

Andrew Freeman, associate publisher at Collins, says Twitter gives "an immediate snapshot of how much a word is used."

"The tried and tested approach to compiling dictionaries has to adapt to embrace the ways in which language is developing through use on social media, and this is a fun way to get Twitter users involved in defining the English language,” he said.

Collins has been publishing the dictionary since 1819 and it contains more than 4.5 billion words. Users can submit words for consideration at collinsdictionary.com.

This new process, which has its own seperate website, looks to take advantage of the freedom of Twitter when it comes to the written word.

Lucy Mangan, a blogger for collinsdictionary.com and a contributor to the Collins English Dictionary says Twitter is "#brilliant" as a platform for new words.

“Twitter is the perfect place to find out what people are really saying and how they’re saying it. It’s a space in which you’re freer than almost anywhere else to combine old words, resurrect others or invent totally new ones whenever the need arises.”

According to language experts, the list, which also contains the word adorkable, referring to someone who is dorky in an adorable way, is a sign of the way language is changing in the 21st century.

"Language has always had to develop in response to changes in society and technology," said Ian Brookes, lexicographer and consultant editor to the Collins English Dictionary.

"In the 21st century, the growth of social media has had a comparable effect.": “Language has always had to develop in response to changes in society and technology.

Vote on Twitter for the next word to make it into @CollinsDict, you adorkable duck face - @TheNextWeb http://t.co/2MG1b31F47 #Twictionary

— Collins Dictionary (@CollinsDict) May 19, 2014

The shortlist of words are:

Adorkable – dorky in an adorable way.

Fatberg – a large mass of solid waste, grease etc, clogging a sewage system.

Felfie – a farmer selfie.

Gaybourhood – a gay-friendly neighbourhood, e.g. Castro in San Francisco.

Nomakeupselfie – a selfie of a woman without make-up, posted online to raise awareness for a charity.

Vaguebooking – posting a deliberately vague status updates on social media to prompt a response.

Duckface – the traditional pouting facial expression in selfies.

Fracktivist – an activist who protests against fracking.

Euromaiden – the original pro-Europe protests in Ukraine, named for Maidan Square in Kiev.

Vote for your favourite word at twictionary.collinsdictionary.com