Culture and Society
PUBLISHED
In an attempt to keep up with our ever-evolving language, 5,900 new English words have been added to Dictionary.com.
Dictionaries are not like software updates, where every year or so you get a new big list of words that they've been working hard on, and now everybody gets to have a play with them.
If a word is being added to the dictionary, it is because it is already in use and the people running the dictionary believe that it's likely to continue to be in use for some time. One way that they determine this is through search trends, but that is only part of the story.
"Search trends are only one piece of the evidence," Dictionary.com explains. "Lexicographers also read widely and search corpora — large collections of written and transcribed language — to determine how frequently a term is used, whether its meaning is widely shared, and whether it will be useful to a general audience."
"When that evidence shows widespread, sustained use, a word may be ready for its own dictionary entry."
That means there's a good chance you've already come across many of these new entries, particularly if you spend too long on the internet or inside a laboratory.
"Scientific terminology accounts for a substantial share of the additions, while borrowed words bring in vocabulary from around the world," Dictionary.com adds.
"Other entries capture the language of online communities, artificial intelligence, health and psychology, sustainability, and global cuisine."
From the world of science, we now have bioprinter, blue carbon (yes, we know it's not a single word), agrivoltaics, and trauma bond. Perhaps the worst of all these words is greenhushing, or the "practice of a company not reporting its sustainability efforts, often in order to avoid scrutiny".
OK OK, but what about the slang?
Part of the appeal of the dictionary adding new words is that older folk, who are used to only having the Old Words, can get suitably annoyed at the nonsense slang the youth are coming up with.
This summer's word drop will not disappoint on that front, with "glow-up" (non. a positive transformation, generally in appearance but often also in confidence, social capital, or ability) and goated (adjective. (Informal) considered by many people to be the GOAT, the greatest of all time) making the cut.
Old favorite Internet acronyms have also been added, including ELI5 (explain like I'm five, a very useful phrase) and IYKYK (if you know you know, a phrase which has never once been useful).
STBX also snuck in there. If you've seen this used before and didn't know what it meant, then maybe have a little check-in on your relationship, as it means "soon to be ex".
We won't blame you if that has all left you lost in the sauce (idiom. clueless, confused, or in a fog; preoccupied or disoriented). Yep, that made it too.
From fiction to fact
The list also includes words that have come from fiction.
Surprisingly, "balrog" was not in the dictionary until now, despite first appearing in JRR Tolkein's Lord of the Rings, which was originally published in 1954. Meanwhile, "padawan", a term introduced to the world by Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, also makes its debut.
The internet and artificial intelligence (AI) are also responsible for some new additions. These include "engagement bait", or posts designed deliberately to encourage digital reactions from the audience, and "reply guys", who are men who respond "to women’s social media posts overly often and in an inappropriate manner."
Words related to AI include overprompt (to supply [AI] with an excessive amount of instruction, constraint, or context, especially if it negatively affects the output) and model collapse (poor-quality output by a generative AI as a result of being trained on data that is itself generated by AI).
That's about it on the new word drops. Enjoy your new words, though stay away from actually doing greenhushing please, that shouldn't be a thing.
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