Trini word ‘mamaguy’ featured as Oxford Dictionaries' word of the day
Trinbagonian word ‘mamaguy’ was the Oxford Dictionaries' feature of the day on Twitter over the weekend.
In a Twitter update on Saturday August 11, Oxford listed ‘mamaguy’ as a verb, meaning ‘to deceive someone, especially with flattery or untruths’.
However many Trinis may be unaware that the word is Spanish in origin, taken from the Spanish phrase 'mamar gallo', meaning to ‘make a monkey of’.
Oxford Dictionaries says it focuses on “current language and practical usage” and updates its online repository regularly to give access to the “latest new words and fast-moving spheres such as popular culture or technology”.
In June 2018 Oxford added more than 900 new words including binge-watch, impostor syndrome, and silent generation, while the ‘emoji’ was included in the dictionary since 2013.
Other words added this year include ‘embiggen’, ‘impactful’, ‘kush’ and ‘sistren’.
View the full list of words added in this update.
To find out more go to www.oxforddictionaries.com.
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