Oxford's Word Of The Year: Selfie

Last week the Survey of Global English declared the word of 2013 to be a number: 404.  This week the Oxford Dictionary selected "selfie."

Selfie can actually be traced back to 2002 when it was used in an Australian online forum. 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) and drelfie (drunken selfie), and even items of furniture – shelfie and bookshelfie.

They note that "selfie" has not yet been added to their dictionary. Other words on this year's list: bitcoin, twerk, showrooming, and schmeat. Schmeat?