More than a dozen words long used across the Caribbean and Bermuda have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Associated Press reports.
They include “bimpert”, Bermudian for a foolish person; “Trinbagonian”, for someone from Trinidad and Tobago; and “canboulay”, the 19th-century carnival celebrations marking the end of slavery. Folklore has its place too, with the shape-shifting spirit “jablesse” and the “douen”, while food lovers will spot sugar cake, peanut punch and shadeesh, a local name for chorizo.
People in Trinidad told the AP they were proud to see the words recognised as part of their heritage, and hoped it would help younger generations keep them in use. The dictionary holds around 500,000 words and phrases, and the additions reflect the richness of English as it is spoken around the world.
Source: AP via ABC News