Aiyo! is now part of Oxford dictionary

11 October 2016 11:07 am - 17 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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The 'aiyo' word- a Sri Lankan and South Indian phrase that expresses distress, regret or grief, was included in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), last month as a part of the latest addition of words to its database.

OED has defined the popular word as, "In southern India and Sri Lanka, expressing distress, regret, or grief; 'Oh no!', 'Oh dear!'"

Apart from aiyo, 'aiyoh' and 'aiyah' have also been included in the lexicon, India Today reported. Though the two words can be identified as part of the Indian vocabulary too, OED has actually included their Chinese usage.

The latest addition saw the inclusion of various Singapore English words like mamak (Malaysian word for street stall), pancit (flat tyre) and even popular dishes from Singapore and South-east Asia like "char kway teow", "chicken rice" and "rendang".

The dictionary also paid a sort of a tribute to author Roald Dahl, by adding words he invented like "splendiferous", "human bean" and "Oompa Loompa." The children's books writer's birthday falls in September too.

The OED updates its bank of words four times in a year, and almost every year some people find its choices like "srsly", "squee", obvs" and "omg" hard to believe. Some quirky entries can be found in this month's list too, including biatch, butt-f**k, jagoff, 'Merica, scrumdiddlyumptious, moobs, yoda and YOLO.

The Oxford English Dictionary has been the foremost authority on the English language, all over the world. OED is more than 150 years old and contains at least 6,00,000 entries. It is updated four times -- March, June, September, and December -- in a year.

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Comments - 17

Ridma Tuesday, 11 October 2016 03:22 PM

Hapoi Maalu..!

Leonard Michael Perera Friday, 14 October 2016 11:50 AM

Aiyooooooooooooooooooo

cg Wednesday, 12 October 2016 07:26 AM

aiyooooooooo whats happened to biyoooooooo

janaka Tuesday, 11 October 2016 06:22 PM

Aiyo Sirisena game kewa... if someone want's to know how to use it in a sentence...

TJ Tuesday, 11 October 2016 04:37 PM

It is originally a Tamil word that subsequently became a malayalam word too. After all the Malayalam language is a mixture of Tamil

Kithsiri De Silva Tuesday, 11 October 2016 04:36 PM

අයියෝ !

Rubert Tuesday, 11 October 2016 04:34 PM

Where do you get your facts from? The OED says it is a word spoken in Southern India and Sri Lanka.

jayan Tuesday, 11 October 2016 03:44 PM

In malayalam , same word aiyooooo.......haha

ali Tuesday, 11 October 2016 03:25 PM

This is because of Indian usage of the word. Ayyo or Aiyo is Malayalam word originally, then also widely used in Tamil, by which it became popular among few other countries in Asia like Singapore and Malaysia where Tamil is widely used. Notably, "Ayyo" is wife's name of Yama or God of death in Hinduism.

Thanos Tuesday, 11 October 2016 11:26 AM

Haaaiiiiioooooooooooooooo..............

Ashiq Tuesday, 11 October 2016 03:16 PM

good humor

faito Tuesday, 11 October 2016 01:26 PM

ammata sree wil be next

Lankan007 Tuesday, 11 October 2016 12:52 PM

Aiyo Salli........

Kaboos Tuesday, 11 October 2016 12:43 PM

shall be think of Baiyyo

Jude Tuesday, 11 October 2016 12:40 PM

AIO sirisena...

ANTON Tuesday, 11 October 2016 12:12 PM

SOON WE CAN HEAR ENGLISHMEN IN UK HOSPITALS SCREAMING ..... AIYOOOO !!! AIYOOOO !!!

max Tuesday, 11 October 2016 11:29 AM

Thanks to the significant commitment by Yahapalana Govt.

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Aiyo! is now part of Oxford dictionary

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