Science

The Oxford Dictionary McGyvers Mecha Into the Lexical Holodeck

Future generations will know how to McGyver up a holodeck.

by Peter Rugg
Getty

Oxford Dictionaries has announced the addition of six new pop culture inspired words to its website. As if there were any doubt whether the “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” would stand the test of time.

Here’s a collection of the additions along with definition so you don’t fall behind the witty bon mots at your next cocktail party:

  • MacGyver - To rig or repair something in a creative way using only materials at hand, as in the television show of the same name.
  • Holodeck - From Star Trek: The Next Generation, a room that can simulate any environment, interactive characters included.
  • Hoverboard - Promised to us in Back to the Future Part II’s vision of 2015, we’re so close to the levitating skateboards we can taste it.
  • Kayfabe - Pro wrestler speak for a staged fight presented to be authentic.
  • Mecha - Japanese magna invention of a large robot usually controlled from within by a single pilot.
  • Manic Pixie Dream Girl - Originating in Nathan Rabin’s review of Elizabethtown, the MPDG is a whimsical and quirky female character who exists chiefly to spark change in the life of the story’s male lead. Rabin came to regret his creation.

Related Tags