Merriam-Webster added 455 new words to the dictionary. Some of them are made up, some are updated definitions of old words, and some are pandemic related, here are a few of the highlights:
Slang.
Amirite: slang used in writing for “am I right” to represent or imitate the use of this phrase as a tag question in informal speech. An example: “English spelling is consistently inconsistent, amirite?”
Creations of our increasingly “online” culture.
Deplatform: to remove and ban (a registered user) from a mass communication medium (such as a social networking or blogging website) broadly : to prevent from having or providing a platform to communicate.
Whataboutism: the act or practice of responding to an accusation of wrongdoing by claiming that an offense committed by another is similar or worse also : the response itself. The synonymous term whataboutery is more common in British English.
COVID words.
Long COVID : a condition that is marked by the presence of symptoms (such as fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, headache, or brain fog) which persist for an extended period of time (such as weeks or months) following a person’s initial recovery from COVID-19 infection.
FOOD!
Ghost kitchen : a commercial cooking facility used for the preparation of food consumed off the premises — called also cloud kitchen, dark kitchen.
Also included were dad bod, astroturfing, and Oobleck.
Dad bod: a physique regarded as typical of an average father; especially : one that is slightly overweight and not extremely muscular.
Oobleck acts as a solid when pressure applied, liquid with a light touch! Fascinating!!!! pic.twitter.com/fyYsk544l4
— ???Cheryl X2 Vaccinated???CANADA??? (@mini_bubbly) November 10, 2019
Why Do They Keep Adding Words To The Dictionary?
Do we need more words? I honestly think we’re good on words. We don’t need a dictionary for them at least. Perhaps dictionaries are obsolete from a by-gone, pre-Internet era.
Remember the good old days when you didn’t know a word and you had to go all the way down to the library to open that gigantic dictionary to see if it was a word? Or maybe all you had at home was an outdated dictionary from Scrabble.
Is “nerfly” a word? It certainly sounds like one. Anyway…the dictionary keeps growing whether we want it to or not.
They keep adding new words so maybe it’s for the best that we don’t have the big dictionary books anymore. Here’s a good question, do they expand the thesaurus at the same time as the dictionary?
Related: You Don’t Have to Be a Redneck to Love Jeff Foxworthy’s Redneck Dictionary
Words I Would Add To the Dictionary
I’m noticing a few words I use every day aren’t on this list, so I am advising MW to add a few of my favorites.
PSSSHHH: exclamation – a noise made in exasperated disbelief. Example” “He wants how much for the car? PSSSSSHH he’s delusional”
Fixin’To: An unofficial measurement of time and action in the south. Example: “Welp, I’m fixin’to to head on out and go home.”
Fourth Meal: Made famous by Taco Bell, Fourth Meal is that late-night food you definitely shouldn’t have but do anyway. example: “Dude, I know its 2AM but I could go for a Fourth Meal of four tacos and cheesy gordita crunch, and a Mountain Dew Code Red”
Linner: When you eat a meal between the others of 2 PM and 5 PM. Example: “I didn’t eat lunch so I had a linner of cheese and crackers”
Which words would you add to the dictionary? Let us know in the comments below.