The word ‘Aiyo’ is now an accepted English word. The Oxford English dictionary has included the popular south India slang and the news is trending on social media, said a news report published online yesterday by Sun Daily of Malaysia.The report filed from Kuala Lumpur said: The definition given for Aiyo is – to denote distress, regret, or grief; ‘Oh no!’, ‘Oh dear!” in south India and Sri Lanka.
Variations accepted includes ‘aiyoh’ and ‘aiyah’.
This news has created much amusement among people, especially those who play the popular word game Scrabble.
“An interesting addition to the accepted word list. Look out during your next Scrabble game!” one netizen said on Facebook.
The Oxford English Dictionary updates it bank of words four times in a year.
The latest addition saw the inclusion of various words like mamak (Malaysian word for street stall), pancit (flat tyre) and even popular dishes from Singapore and South-east Asia like “char kway teow”,
“chicken rice” and “rendang”.