Appeal

Words or phrases which appear on the Appeals List are those currently being drafted or revised for the OED for which the documentary evidence is incomplete. Often these are slang or colloquial items which cannot be researched in specialist texts and are most likely to be found by a general reader in non-specialized or popular literature.

Usually the appeal is for an earlier example than our current earliest (e.g. `antedate 1970' for a word for which our earliest example comes from 1970), but sometimes the appeal is for an interdating where there is a large gap in the OED's quotation evidence (e.g. `interdate 1589-1910'). Occasionally we ask for a postdating (e.g. `postdate 1875'), if an editor feels that an item being revised is still current but has failed to find any recent examples through the usual avenues of research.

monocleid (adjective: locked with a single key):

postdate 1870 (also as a noun)

nibbly (adjective: suitable for nibbling):

antedate 1978

outie (noun: kind of navel):

antedate 1973

scag (noun: poor or scruffy person):

any examples

texting (noun):

antedate 1982

treacle tart (noun):

antedate 1919

wazzock (noun: stupid or annoying person):

antedate 1988

wonga (noun: money):

antedate 1989

Please send submissions to oed3@oup.co.uk