The Oxford English Dictionary is searching for the roots of words such as 'hoodie'. Photographer: Martin Godwin

The hunt for the obscure origins of some of Britain's more colloquial words and phrases is on ...

The Oxford English Dictionary is again enlisting the British public to help uncover the linguistic leapfrogs that have altered the meanings of the country's coinages. Last year, members of the public helped update the origins of such commonplace terms as "ploughman's lunch", a "99 flake" and "the full monty".

This year's list includes "hoodie" (once a crow, now both a hooded sweatshirt and the type of disreputable youth commonly associated with the garment), "glamour model" and the phrase "one sandwich short of a picnic". These terms are among 40 that the OED is looking to update with documentary evidence that pre-dates the earliest mention held in their archives. The results of the search will feature in a new series of BBC2's Balderdash and Piffle, to be shown on BBC2 later this year.

We want to know your favourite words or phrases and what they mean to you. Is it "brass monkeys" outside or just very cold? Does someone humiliate you or "take the mickey"? Are you unnecessarily stressed or have you got your "knickers in a twist"? Wacky or wonderful, arcane or annoying, let us know which you use and when you first heard it.