KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 -- Last month, Malaysia's colourful English stepped into the global linguistic spotlight after words like "alamak" and "tapau" found a home in the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

But how exactly do these words make the cut, and who decides what gets in?

Danica Salazar, the executive editor for World English at the OED, told Malay Mail that the process behind each new entry is nothing short of meticulous - and can take anywhere from a few months to several years.

"The OED is a historical dictionary. You don't consult it just to find out what a word means. It is also consulted by people who want to learn about when the word was first used in English," Salazar said.

The editorial process begins with tra...