Two of the bibles of the French language, the Petit Larousse encyclopaedic dictionary and Le Petit Robert, have developed a few new culinary and artistic tastes, reports The Guardian.
On Monday, the editors announced the latest editions would contain 300 new words and expressions including “focaccia”, “biryani”, “goji” and “vegan”.
Showing it is moving with the times, and in defiance of the Académie Française’s diktat’s on anglicisms, the 2016 Larousse will include what Libérationdescribed as the “unbearable” word “selfie” – plus its Québécois equivalent “égoportrait” – as well as “big data” and “open data”, “community manager” and “bitcoin”.
It will also include the term “captcha” for those annoying series of numbers and letters websites demand to prove the user is human.
Notable cultural additions will be the celebrated veteran French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, actor Michael Caine, the British street artist Banksy as well as the Rosetta space probe and Pixar studios.