The Match Group-owned app Ship is asking the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to update its official definition of the word “ship”.
It is current definition describes a “large watercraft”, but the dating app’s team wants it updated to include a more modern meaning.
According to Urban Dictionary, a widely-used but much more informal vocabulary service, “shipping” is “endorsing a romantic relationship” between two other people.
Ship has been running an online petition and social media campaign #UpdateThisShip, as well as targeting the OED’s two headquarters.
It started yesterday, with a mobile billboard parked outside of the New York office carrying the slogan “Get your ship together, Oxford”. Brand ambassadors were also collecting signatures for the petition on the streets while handing out merchandise.
The app has taken out a full page advert today in the Oxford Times, the OED’s local UK newspaper. It asks the company change the definition as it has previously updated the meaning of words like catfish and troll.
At the time of writing, the OED has not publicly acknowledged the movement.
Ship is a collaborative project between Match Group and female lifestyle brand Betches that was launched at the beginning of 2019. Singles users can create group chats with their friends, where they can share potential matches and ask for advice on how to respond to messages.
Visit the Ship website here.