Notes on OED's December 2007 release of new words

blankie n.

The lexical innovations of children are often so short-lived or idiosyncratic that they do not gain widespread currency outside a particular family. Blankie, however, a colloquialism for "blanket" formed by adding the suffix –ie to the first syllable, has stood the test of time. Written evidence shows over 80 years of English usage of the word, especially in North America, but it probably has a longer, unrecorded history in the language of the nursery.

Godzone n.

This humorous name for New Zealand has its origins in a play on the first two words of the phrase "God's Own Country", respelled to suggest a compound having the word zone n. as its second element. Despite its presumption, the term "God's Own Country" has been patriotically applied to numerous geopolitical entities, including the United States, Yorkshire, and the Indian state of Kerala. The irreverent Godzone, however, belongs to New Zealand alone.

puttanesca n.

Food terms are a major source of new loanwords in English. In Italian, this word, denoting a piquant tomato sauce with olives, capers, and anchovies, has the literal sense "prostitute-esque" (< puttana prostitute). Culinary literature has produced a variety of conjectures for this association, such as the notion that the sauce was fast and easy to prepare between clients, or that its strong flavours and aroma exerted a stimulating effect. However, the motivation for the name remains uncertain.

QALY n.

Beloved of Scrabble players, the relatively few English words containing a Q which is not immediately followed by U are primarily loanwords, like the new OED entry qipao n. (< Chinese). QALY is an exception. An acronym from "quality-adjusted life year", it is a technical term used primarily in cost-benefit analysis to account for the quality of life, as well as its duration, after medical or surgical treatment.