Derry Girls & Joyce spicing up English dictionary is class

New batch of Irish words added by Oxford boffins

- SEAN MURPHY

SPICE bag, ludraman, and class are some of the latest Irish-English words that have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

They go alongside other recent additions like feck and coddle and help to make the famous reference book "pure class", like Derry Girls character Erin might say.

The word "class" has been added because of the language used in the award-winning TV show about a group of schoolgirls during The Troubles.

A spokesperson for the Oxford English Dictionary said: "Class is how Erin describes her hometown of Derry in an episode of the first season of the popular sitcom.

"Creator Lisa McGee's 2018 script is quoted in the OED's entry for the Irish, and northern English, usage of class as a general term of approval."

The definition of "class" is listed as "a general term of approval: excellent, fantastic, great".

The dictionary recalls Erin responding to Sister Michael in its definition.

Sr Michael said to Erin, "Welcome to Derry." Erin responded, "It's class, isn't it?"

This month's update of the OED includes many new words from other languages, including Ireland, South Africa and southeast Asia.

USAGE

The English language has borrowed a wealth of words from other languages over the years and has again turned to words that have been derived from Irish.