OXFORD DICTIONARIES WORD OF THE YEAR 2013

SELFIE

a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website

     Oxford Dictionaries announced selfie as their international Word of the Year 2013.  Language research conducted by Oxford Dictionaries editors reveals that the frequency of the word selfie in the English language has increased by 17,000% since this time last year.

     Selfie can actually be traced back to 2002 when it was used in an Australian online forum:

2002 ABC Online (forum posting) 13 Sept.

“Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer [sic] and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie.” 

      The word gained momentum throughout the English- speaking world in 2013 as it evolved from a social media buzzword to mainstream shorthand for a self-portrait photograph. Its linguistic productivity is already evident in the creation of numerous related spin-off terms showcasing particular parts of the body like helfie (a picture of one’s hair) and belfie (a picture of one’s posterior); a particular activity – welfie (workout selfie) anddrelfie (drunken selfie), and even items of furniture – shelfie and bookshelfie.