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Oxford English Dictionary To Add 'Skype' And 'Coat' To Latest Edition

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OXFORD, U.K.—Editors of the Oxford English Dictionary announced Tuesday their plans to include the words "Skype" and "coat" in their most recent update of the authoritative reference work. "We are pleased to welcome to the OED these words English speakers have embraced as a way of referring to video conferencing and to a thick overgarment that keeps one's chest warm." Oxford University Press spokesperson Charles Aver told reporters. "So entwined in our language have these vernacular expressions become that it is now commonplace to hear one speak of 'Skyping' a friend or coworker, or of putting on a 'coat' before going outside." While lexicographers have heralded 2011 as "the Year of the Coat," many critics derided the dictionary's slowness to adapt, noting that its 20 volumes still contain no simple verb meaning "to add a layer of paint."