The English language is a wonderful thing.
Constantly changing, adapting and evolving, English has never been above “borrowing” a few words when something new needs describing too.
So whenever the folk at Dictionary.com need to refresh their library, there’s always a couple of fun treats hiding in there.
Via John Blyberg/Flickr
This week saw the addition of a plethora of new slang words to the dictionary, including:
- al desko – the act of eating at one’s desk in the office.
- butthurt – mental distress or irritation caused by an overreaction to a perceived personal slight.
- ghosting – the practice of suddenly ending all contact with a person without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship.
- lamestream – noting or relating to traditional print and broadcast media, when regarded as lacking the fairness, creativity, etc., of independent online news sources.
- manspread – to sit with one’s legs far apart, taking up too much space on a seat shared with other people.
- Pokémon – a media franchise including video games, animated television series, movies, card games, etc. that depict a fictional class of pet monsters and their trainers. (Short for Pocket Monsters)
- warmist – a person who accepts global warming as a reality (a term used by people who reject the concept).
- woke – someone who is “actively aware of systemic injustices and prejudices”.
The full list of new terms can be found here.
“We get over 5.5 billion word lookups every year, and we analyze those lookups to identify new words that we haven’t seen before,” explained Dictionary.com CEO Liz McMillan to the folk at TIME. “And when we see a critical mass of volume against a particular word, our lexicography team will start researching.”
With technology we have an opportunity to make the dictionary more of a living, breathing thing, like language itself,” McMillan told TIME.
The English language. A wonderful evolving thing. So try not to get too butthurt about the new additions.
Do you have any special words that you think should be added? If you have something you’d like to share with us, get us on Twitter here, on Facebook here or you can drop a line to [email protected].
