To 'Vape' Or Inhale E-Cigarette Vapors Is Oxford Dictionaries' Word Of The Year

"Vape," the word for inhaling and exhaling the vapor of an electronic or e-cigarette, has been chosen as Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year, it was announced on their blog. The word that beat out "bae" and "slacktivism," say the Oxford experts, doubled in usage from 2013 and distinguished itself from the smoking of combustible cigarettes.

“As vaping has gone mainstream," said Oxford Dictionaries’ editorial director Judy Pearsall, "with celebrities from Lindsay Lohan to Barry Manilow giving it a go, and with growing public debate on the public dangers and the need for regulation, so the language usage of the word 'vape’ and related terms in 2014 has shown a marked increase."

One of its first noted usages dates back to 1983, when a New Society article titled "Why Do People Smoke" referred to "an inhaler or 'non-combustible' cigarette...deliver[s] a metered dose of nicotine vapor. (The new habit, if it catches on, would be known as vaping.)"

And catch on it did, with Oxford experts marking 2009 as the year "vape" really took off linguistically.

A "vaping lexicon" now exists as well, including the word "vaporium," a place where vaping equipment can be bought and e-cigarettes vaped. "E-juice" refers to the liquid that turns into vapor when e-cigarettes are inhaled and their batteries activated.

Oxford Dictionaries' 2013 Word of the Year was "selfie." "Vape" was added to OxfordDictionaries.com in August 2014 and it may be included in the Oxford English Dictionary.