Twerking’s nothing new

LONDON — Twerking may be older than you think.

The provocative dance that gained global fame thanks to an attentiongrabbing performance by Miley Cyrus at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards has been admitted to the venerable Oxford English Dictionary — and lexicographers say its origins go back almost 200 years.

The dictionary now describes twerking as dancing “in a sexually provocative manner, using thrusting movements of the bottom and hips while in a low, squatting stance.”

It had previously listed the word, but then to refer to a twisting or jerking movement or twitch. Researchers found it used as a noun with that meaning in 1820, spelled “twirk.” It became a verb by 1848, and the “twerk” spelling was popularly used by 1901.

Senior editor Fiona McPherson called revelations about the word’s roots “quite spectacular.”

She said the word as a description of a dance has its roots in the 1990s New Orleans music scene.

Other new entries, announced Thursday, include social-media term “twitterati” and smokers’ helper “e-cigarette.”