It’s that time of year again. Merriam-Webster has added new words to its dictionary — 850 new words, to be exact. And you’re probably going to like the ones they went with, considering many of them are actually representative of the English-speaking world in 2018.
According to what Emily Brewster, the associate editor of the dictionary, told the Boston Globe on Monday, words are chosen based on what people might encounter “in the wild.” It doesn’t matter how sophisticated these terms are or where they came from — not even memes are off-limits. That’s why, this year, they’ve decided to add words like “mansplaining,” “dumpster fire,” and “subtweet,” along with semi-formal-sounding definitions for each word (because even though some of these terms are silly, this is still the dictionary).
For example, the definition of “welp” is “to introduce a remark expressing resignation or disappointment.” That sounds about right.
"These new words have been added to the dictionary because they have become established members of the English language, and are terms people are likely to encounter," Brewster said.
In a blog post on the Merriam-Webster site, they explained their decision a little more clearly.
"Each word has taken its own path in its own time to become part of our language — to be used frequently enough by some in order to be placed in a reference for all," the blog said. "If you're likely to encounter a word in the wild, whether in the news, a restaurant menu, a tech update, or a Twitter meme, that word belongs in the dictionary."
It just goes to show that we all have more power over the English language than you might think. Use certain terms enough and soon, you might see them in the dictionary. Pretty cool, right?
