Anyone who has ever felt so hungry to the point of getting angry can finally associate that feeling with an official word: hangry.
The term that so many people and companies have used for years was one of more than 1,100 new words, senses and subentries added to the Oxford English Dictionary in its latest update on Jan. 29.
I am finally able to prove to my husband that being #hangry is real! Thanks @OxfordWords! https://t.co/Tped8mbAEE
— Megan D (@MeganD903) February 5, 2018
Social media users were quick to chime in on the word's official recognition and added their own personal ties to the subsequent feelings they've experienced while overly hungry.
"Hangry" has been added to the Oxford English dictionary and if you go look it up you will see a picture of me
— Oreo Wizard (@POISONxJU) February 5, 2018
Although the term is just being recognized officially, it has long been part of a common vernacular and dates as far back as the 1950s, according to OED.
"It is only in the 21st century that the word hangry, a blend of hungry and angry used colloquially to mean 'bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger,' has entered common use," Katherine Connor Martin, Oxford University Press' head of U.S. Dictionaries, said in a press release.
Next time someone says they're hangry, they're not making a typo.
— Vasiliki Prestidge (@Greek_to_me) February 5, 2018
Just hand them a burger and/or run! #hangry... https://t.co/uLOHK9jhn0
"The earliest known evidence for the word dates from 1956, in an unusual article in the psychoanalytic journal American Imago that describes various kinds of deliberate and accidental wordplay. The author mentions hangry in a discussion of words formed by contraction or elision," Martin said.
'Hangry' passenger has pizza delivered to stalled Amtrak trainFunny phrases using the word hangry have been seen on memes, social media, merchandise, apps and even ad campaigns in recent years.
I'm sorry. #hangry pic.twitter.com/OTsSAXMKYd
— Hilda Torres (@hc_torres) March 21, 2016
The candy brand Snickers' slogan "You're not you when you're hungry" captures the essence of what it means to be hangry and the company even created an entire ad campaign last year around the idea.
With Hungerithm a hangry Internet means cheaper @SNICKERS for you. #EatASNICKERS
— SNICKERS® (@SNICKERS) November 16, 2017
While that hungry and irritable feeling will pass with a quick bite to eat, the word hangry is now officially here to stay.
