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In an article published today by the WSJ, there's a debate going on over whether the words "manties," (men's panties), "mantyhose," (men's pantyhose?) and "mewelry" (you get the jist) are legitimate enough to be included in the Oxford English Dictionary. Apparently, the OED is "tracking them for possible inclusion." But there are rules to get into the be-all and end-all of dictionaries, and so far, "manbag" is the only one of these words to have been included, and this happened five years ago. (It's synonym "murse," however, has been disqualified.)
To be accepted into the OED, Senior Editor Fiona McPherson says there must be "evidence of a word's usage over a 10-year period, before considering it for inclusion." Meaning if we really want to use "mantyhose" in scrabble without being challenged, we'll have to say it for at least another 9 years and 364 days, since this WSJ article could very well be the first time someone put that in print.
Here's one person—one of many, most likely—who's not on board: GQ style advice columnist Glenn O'Brien, who says, "Manties is pretty high on the repellent meter."
· Grab Your 'Murse,' Pack a 'Mankini' And Don't Forget the 'Mewelry' [WSJ]