Merriam Webster has added 1,000 new terms to the dictionary (so no more saying that these aren’t real words!)
Big things are happening to the the English language! Merriam-Webster just added 1,000 new words to the dictionary, making sayings like “binge-watch,” “photobomb,” and “humblebrag” legit words. As long as the English language continues to grow (for better or for worse), so will the dictionary.
It may seem like the newest slang words are getting the most attention (because they’re the most fun to talk about), but many other terms have also been added.
More than 1,000 new words have been added, including “terms from recent advances in science, borrowings from foreign languages, and words from tech, medicine, pop culture, sports, and everything in between,” according to Merriam-Webster.
Merriam-Webster took to Twitter to make the big announcement:
🎉🎊We just added more than 1,000 new words to the dictionary!🎉🎊 https://t.co/NhvqlXkHaP
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) February 7, 2017
The ever-growing dictionary followed up the announcement with a bunch of subsequent tweets listing some of the new words.
Like, “ghost” is now a verb (but you already knew that, duh).
We now enter 'ghost' as a verb, and @giphy made us this GIF to celebrate the occasion.👻 https://t.co/hvj0UVimiK pic.twitter.com/T6sHSc9rYC
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) February 7, 2017
And “snollygoster” has just been added back in to the dictionary — which is perfect timing for the current political situation happening in our country.
Yes—like snollygoster, "a shrewd & unprincipled person, especially an unprincipled politician." Just added it back. https://t.co/DsYIshSZDU https://t.co/lv5HKPyNum
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) February 7, 2017
Speaking of the current political situation, “shade” has also been added to the dictionary.
We added shade to the dictionary. https://t.co/dbxSsggzLo pic.twitter.com/4bpkoJVvAF
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) February 7, 2017
“Amour fou,” because Valentine’s Day.
'Amour fou' is now in the dictionary. Just in time for Valentine's Day! https://t.co/WEKcfFxCJ6 pic.twitter.com/PzhpH4lDJ1
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) February 7, 2017
We’re not sure why “prosopagnosia” wasn’t already in the dictionary, but it has finally been added.
'Prosopagnosia', "an inability to recognize faces," is now in the dictionary. (GIF by @giphy) https://t.co/MGysHlKCMN pic.twitter.com/RSeiN039RM
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) February 7, 2017
“Face-palm” has been added as both a verb and a noun.
Most common spelling as a verb: face-palm
Most common spelling as a noun: facepalm
Us: https://t.co/6EIZh0hCAO
(GIF by @GIPHY Studios) pic.twitter.com/lvzKycTZgA— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) February 7, 2017
So if we’ve learned anything from all of the new word additions, it’s that Merriam-Webster is super in touch with young culture. And as it turns out, reading the dictionary might not be such a boring activity to do after all.
