in the first place this week , Merriam - Webster announced that it had update its online dictionary to recognizetheyas a singular nonbinary pronoun . While that may have been the most buzzworthy terminal figure on the listing , it was n’t the only one — Merriam - Webster alsoadded532 otherwordsand definition from the world of sport , business , psychology , soda water culture , and more .
Certified paronomasia masters , lovers of all matter corny , and actual pop can rejoice : Dad jokeis among the hundreds of new terms . Though it might seem like people have been tossing the terminus around for some years now , there was more to the addition procedure than just prove thatdad jokeis coarse . Merriam - Webster editor Peter SokolowskiexplainedtoThe Mercury Newsthat editors sieve through mark and on-line publications to find out grounds of a full term ’s widespread popularity and staying power . Once the editors could confirm thatdad jokewas all over the place and was n’t just being used to describe “ a trick told by a pappa , ” it was time to give it a formal definition : “ a wholesome joke of the character pronounce to be told by fathers with a punchline that is often an obvious or predictable wordplay or play on words and ordinarily judged to be endearingly corny or unfunny . ”
Also add werefree solo , describing a rock climb undertaken without any roach or refuge equipment , cut — those brusk picture scene during or after the credits — andcoulrophobia , an “ abnormal fear of clowns , ” though anybody who ’s ever seen a goof might fence thatclown fearis entirely normal .
Sokolowski ’s favorite new give-and-take isnon - rhotic , which describe the Bostonian substance abuse of not label the letterrunless it ’s followed by a vowel . “ It expresses how the dictionary works , ” he toldThe Mercury News . “ The term has been around for 50 years but it ’s been mostly used by scholars and linguists . But because of social media , the curtain is being pulled back and it ’s being used more by the cosmopolitan public . As a language bozo , I cogitate that ’s just fantastic ! ”
Merriam - Webster has also added a number of unexampled abbreviation and “ sense , ” or definition , to existing dictionary entries . Likely bring about by their ubiquitous bearing among Instagram hashtags , inspoandvacayare now officially satisfactory abbreviation for divine guidance and vacation , severally . And financiers will be glad to hear thathaircutnow has a new sentiency entail “ a reduction in the time value of an asset ” ( even though a dear haircut can really make you palpate like a million bucks).Tallboyortall boyhas also now been accepted to mean “ a improbable cylindric can for beverages ( such as beer ) usually measuring 16 fluid ounces . ”
Industry jargon , social media , and pop civilization are all common source of lexical innovation , and authors have chip in quite a few new term over the years , too . Try your manus at matching words to their writer - slash - artificer in thisquiz .
[ h / tThe Mercury News ]
