OED quarterly update

[Jesse Sheidlower]

> Right on time (Sept 15), OED online has come up with its quarterly update,
> this time for entries "man" through "march stone." For interested
> subscribers, there's a complete list of new entries and revised entries. But
> I wonder if Jesse could point out the highlights. - Allan Metcalf

There are a number of interested additions in this batch, especially in
the "man" section, which includes such new entries as "you da man!" (hi,
Barry), "man among men", "man in the street", "man bites dog", and a
personal favorite, "men in black", defined as "dark-clothed men of
unknown identity or origin, who supposedly visit those who have seen a
UFO or reported an alien encounter, in order to prevent them publicizing
their experience", and traced as far back as a 1963 book about flying saucers.

Some other new senses include "mail bomb" (both the incendiary and
computational varieties", "Marburg virus", "mall rat", "make my day!"
(lovingly defined as "used ironically to encourage or incite a person to
an action that will justify violent or severe retribution on the part of
the speaker (this being the speaker's favoured course of action)"),
"managed care", and many more.

There are many older entries that have been heavily revised; perhaps a
good one to start at would be _March_ or _march,_ a number of related words,
which include a heavily rewritten etymology for _March_ (the month),
antedatings and reorganizations for many of the senses, and assorted
other goodies.

Members of the press who have need of it for stories can get free
access to OED Online for a month.

Enjoy the dictionary!

Jesse Sheidlower
Principal Editor
North American Editorial Unit
Oxford English Dictionary