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Oxford Dictionary embraces ‘The Force’ in new update

'The Force' has joined three other <i>Star Wars</i> terms in the latest round of additions to the Oxford Dictionary.

'The Force' has joined three other Star Wars terms in the latest round of additions to the Oxford Dictionary. Photo: Disney

Surprising update to one of the world’s leading dictionaries, this is.

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has announced its latest batch of 203 words, terminology and phrases to be added to its pages.

The dictionary’s authors have been dealt a particularly arduous task in the modern age, with the proliferation of pop culture introducing interesting additions to the lexicon almost daily.

Among the new additions, including abbreviations like chewy (chewing gum) and modern inventions like cryptocurrency, keen-eyed Star Wars fans noticed a particular disturbance in ‘The Force’.

Four words derived from a galaxy far, far away have now gained permanent status inside our world.

Australian devotees of Jediism – apparently, more than 64,000 according to the 2011 Census – would be pleased to learn of Jedis’ formal recognition as “member(s) of an order of heroic, skilled warrior monks”.

Lightsabers, the franchise’s iconic illuminated weaponry, “[resemble] a sword, but have a destructive beam of light in place of a blade”.

Young Padawan, have patience – you are listed as “an apprentice Jedi.”

And as for the aforementioned Force? An add-on to the word’s previous meanings indicates it is now also a “mystical universal energy field”.

Besides the intergalactic terminology, other words introduced by the OED include simples (made infamous in ‘Compare the Meerkat’ advertising) and slam-dunk (the dynamic basketball move).

And in a major blow for grammar Nazis, chillax, whatevs and sumfin — Millennial shorthand for chill out, whatever and something — are now approved entries.

Meanwhile, Rachel from Friends is still begging for ‘transponster’ to gain the recognition it’s always deserved.

The full list of new words added to the OED can be found here.

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