Aussie is a 'selfie' made man

It is hardly the most glamorous selfie around, but an Australian self-portrait of an alcohol-related injury started the trend embraced by Rihanna, Kim Kardashian and other celebrities.

Australia has proudly laid claim to inventing the term "selfie" - named the 2013 word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries - after its first known use was revealed to be by an Australian describing a photograph taken while drunk at a 21st birthday party.

"Um, drunk at a mate's 21st, I tripped ofer [sic] and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps," said the posting.

"I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie."

The University of New England science student called himself "Hopey" and he had previously demonstrated a fondness for ending words in "ie" or "ey".

During a chat about what was then on the radio, he wrote: "I can listen to talkey radio, not musicey radio so much."

The use of the term "selfie" has reportedly increased 17000% over the past 12 months.

The word beat other increasingly common terms such as "twerk", "bitcoin" and "showrooming" to the "word of the year" crown.