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Merriam-Webster, America’s leading language provider, announced that it was adding more than 520 new words and definitions to the publisher’s website. These new words include Covid-19, second gentleman, long-hauler, flex, ASMR, and sapiosexual.
Before the pandemic, “long-distance carrier” was defined as a person or vehicle that travels long distances, but now has an additional definition: “a person who experiences one or more long-term effects after initial improvement or recovery. from a serious illness (such as Covid-19) ”.
Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff. The second gentleman has been added to the dictionary thanks to Emhoff being the husband of the first vice president of the United States.
ASMR, or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, stands for “a pleasant tingling sensation originating at the back of the scalp and often spreading to the neck and upper spine, which occurs in some people in response to a stimulus (such as a particular type of sound or movement), and that tends to have a calming effect ”.
The second gentleman has come into use thanks to the husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris, Doug Emhoff. Merriam-Webster defines it as “the husband or partner of a vice president or second in command of a country or jurisdiction.” As a verb, to flex means to bend; Informally, this word is defined as “boastful or aggressive speaking.”
READ MORE:
* Kamala’s husband will ‘change gender norms’ as second gentleman
* Scrabble dispute over ‘offensive’ words
* ‘Feminism’ is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year, thanks in part to Kellyanne Conway
* Why dictionaries have started sanctioning even the dumbest jargon on the internet
So how do you rate a word or a revised definition of a word for dictionary entry?
Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, says lexicographers have criteria that are somewhat flexible.
“For a word to be considered for entry into our dictionaries, we must have evidence to show that this is actually an established member of the language,” he says. “For that to be the case, we seek to see that a word is widely used but in a wide variety of texts by a wide variety of people over an extended period of time. … We want the use (of the word) to show that there is an established meaning. “
Joshua Hoehne / Unsplash
Merriam-Webster’s senior editor says there are a number of criteria that words must meet before being added to the dictionary that shows that the word is an established member of the language.
Brewster points out that lexicographers don’t just look at edited and published texts; nor do lexicographers create new words out of thin air. Rather, they observe and report on language.
For example, the word “yeet” has gained popularity and use in recent years. Brewster uses this as an example of a word that exists and is used, but its meaning is unclear, which is why it did not qualify for dictionary entry. In general, “yeet” is positive, but it can mean enthusiasm or approval.
The term Covid-19 was added to the dictionary in a record 34 days. Lexicographers typically measure the addition of a word to the dictionary in years, sometimes decades, based on the most recent episode of the Merriam-Webster podcast, The word matters. Before Covid-19, the fastest word to enter the dictionary was two years with the term “AIDS,” which was added in 1984, two years after it was coined.
“The level of use that (Covid-19) was seeing and the increased recognition that the term really outweighs the amount of need to see it in use for an extended period of time,” she says. “So in a case like this, the word was instantly everywhere. … Even at 34 days old, we knew this word was going nowhere. You could cure the disease the next day and it would continue to appear in books and articles. “
Brewster says lexicographers pay attention to how language changes and how culture and social media influence the addition of new words. For example, @, the “in” symbol, was moved in line with email addresses and then attached to social media usernames, but has now evolved to mean “respond to, challenge, or discredit the claim or (someone’s) opinion “as in the phrase” don’t @ me. “
“There is so much talk online right now on social media,” says Brewster. “And somehow, I think it’s really impossible to draw a line and say that a word is established because it appears on social media or a word goes from social media to wider use. It is clear that the two are feeding. “
Merriam-Webster / Supplied
The definition of a newly added word, sapiosexual, in the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
He noted the increase in written communication that has not been scrutinized by editors and other gatekeepers: “Now you can read any tweet (from people), whatever they want to put on their blog. There is so much informal communication available to find. “
Although the coronavirus pandemic has played a huge role in our collective experience as a society, this new update from Merriam-Webster also included words related to identity, gender, and sexuality.
“The English language continues to develop terms that have to do with identity,” he says. “So BIPOC (which stands for black, indigenous and people of color) was entered for this update and also ‘folx’. I think (folx) is very interesting, especially since it absolutely requires the word to be seen. It really points very directly to how prominent the written language is at the moment, because you can’t hear the difference when someone says the word ‘people’ with a ks or with an x. “
About sapiosexual, which refers to romantic attraction to highly intelligent people, Brewster says: “We have been monitoring words that have to do with gender and sexuality for a long time, and this is in a long lineage of terms that have been added “.
As for entries that weren’t added in this latest update, word nerds should check out Merriam-Webster’s “Words We Watching,” a series of articles on words that lexicographers are seeing more of but are not yet living up to their standards. inclusion criteria. .
– Chicago Tribune
