Merriam-Webster adds 100 New Words to the Dictionary...
One hundred new words are now included on Merriam-Webster's website and will be included in their next dictionary editions available in September.
As usual there are some techy words on the list like webinar. There are also culinary editions like edamame (yum) and proseco (double yum). And, finally, an official word to describe people like me, a vegetarian who eats fish--pescatarian--and a name for misheard song lyrics--mondegreen (which I find a tad malaprop-ish).
I enjoyed this particular quote from John Morse, Merriam-Webster's president and publisher,
"There's a kind of collective genius on the part of the people developing this technology, using vocabulary that is immediately accessible to all of us. It's sometimes absolutely poetic."
As a frequent word maker-upper, I've always loved that the English language is so dynamic. It really is rather wonderful, powerful even, that we coin new terms as we need them and they so quickly take a place in the lexicon.
Now if only my my spell check function would automatically update when words become official.
5 Comments on , last added: 7/14/2008
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Does anyone remember sniglets? This post made me think of them. Rich Hall made them famous as "words that should be in the dictionary, but aren't." I remember this one as I was in college during that time:
Foodgitives: The food on one side of a TV dinner tray that escapes to the other side
Sorry, unrelated question. I saw that your 2009 CWIM book will be out at the end of July. I have the 2008 one, and remember seeing in the 2007 one a section about toys companies. Did I dream that? Are you going to have another one of those in the 2009?
I will preorder the 2009, but if you don't have toys companies in it, I will also buy the 2007 book. Thanks!
Julz, the 2009 edition does not include any toy company listings.
To anyone who is a regular reader of my blog and noticed that I have not posted in a while and happens to read this comment:
Blogger locked up my blog and I currently cannot post. I'm trying to get them to unblock it, but it seems to be a slow process. I've got to get this resolved before the SCBWI conference!
Anne--I remember Rich Hall and his sniglets. My favorite: "telecrastination"--waiting for a few rings before answering the phone to you don't seem to anxious.