The uniquely Irish culinary delicacy known as the “spice bag” has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
The Oxford dictionary describes a spice bag as a “takeaway meal typically consisting of chips, shredded deep-fried chicken, fried onions, red and green peppers, chilli peppers, and jalapeño peppers, tossed together in a bag with various spices and often served with curry sauce for dipping”.
The phrase is less than 20 years old. It is credited to the Chinese takeaway restaurant in Templeogue, Dublin called Sunflower which coined it in 2006 and the first social media post mentioning it is from 2012, according to an Oxford University Press spokeswoman.
“Class”, a phrase in Ireland that means something is great, has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary along with a number of other Hiberno-Irish words and phrases.
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[ The Irish spice bag has arrived in Australia and not everyone is happyOpens in new window ]
The latest update of the dictionary credits Derry Girls with popularising the phrase outside Ireland. “Class,” is how the character Erin describes her home city in the first series.
Also added is the phrase “mineral”, defined as a carbonated soft drink. The Oxford dictionary suggests this word was first used in 1893 and notes it is still used in this context in Irish English and West African English.
“Debs”, as short for debutante, is another Hiberno-Irish phrase which has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. “Morto”, short for mortified, a phrase regularly used by Ross O’Carroll-Kelly in the bestselling books by Paul Howard, is now in the latest edition, along with ludraman, defined as a “colloquial and derogatory term for a lazy, unproductive, or stupid people, from Irish liúdramán or lúdramán)”.
The Oxford dictionary is constantly updated to reflect the phrases which have recently entered common parlance. “Generation Alpha”, to describe those born between 2010 to this year, is now included, as is “unfollow” to describe the practice of stopping following somebody on social media.
“Hallucinate” to describe a piece of AI that seems accurate or plausible but is actually inaccurate or misleading is included along with “prompt engineering”, a phrase only five years old, to describe a practice of “formulating and refining prompts for an AI program, algorithm in order to optimize its output or to achieve a desired outcome”.
Other words added to the dictionary include “grawlix”, a phrase coined by American cartoonist Mort Walker to describe the typographical symbols used to cover up obscenities, such as: “f*$k”.
The phrase “one has made one’s bed and must lie in it” has been around since 1631 but has only now been included in the Oxford English Dictionary.
