Catching up on new words
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has just released a list of added 200 new words and terms they have added to the book we all grew up with.
What I never understood, was that, if you don’t know how to spell something, how can you look it up? I digress.
Here is a taste of the new words you will soon see in the history book of words (and don’t fret parents, I won’t include risqué words).
‘Nepo baby’. Websters says that term means “A person who gains opportunities through family connections”.
When I was growing-up we used the word ‘Spoiled.’
‘Creepy-crawly’. The great word aficionados say it is “a slang for the term bugs”.
For me the proper term is ‘ECK!!!!!!!’
‘Jam band’. Is a new term they are using to explain “a band whose performances are distinguished by frequent and often lengthy jazzlike improvisation.”
I think the term they were seeking is ‘The Grateful Dead’.
One of the more interesting terms is ‘Touch grass’. Merriam’s book says the term means, “to participate in normal activities in the real world”.
Ummm, yea, not gonna touch that…
And the last of the new words and terms that made me think for a moment is I do have ‘Snog.’ The new dictionary is including the “British slang for making out.
Heck, I like kissing, so call it what you want it, I am good with it!
But I must lodge a complaint against the Merriam-Websters Dictionary. One of the best words of all time that contains 18 consonants and 16 vowels, is not in the book. The word is Supercalifragilifragilisticexpialidocious’.
According to Wikipedia, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” is a nonsense word that is sometimes used to describe something as being great or extraordinary. It is especially used by children and fans of Disney movies to describe something as being really good.
The word was popularized by the Walt Disney film “Mary Poppins” in 1964, where it is used in a song. In the movie, the word is defined as “something to say when you don’t know what to say”.
The exact origin of the word is unknown, but it is believed to be a nonsense word that was created to sound impressive.
I made the mistake of believing what Mary Poppins taught me, which I thought, was “it means whatever you want it too”.
WRONG! So, I went to https://www.merriam-webster.com and put in that precocious sounding word. This was the response I received…
“Words fail us”
- You searched for a word using nonstandard orthography that completely stumped our spell-checker.
- You searched for a word that hasn’t been entered into the dictionary yet. A neologism!
- You followed a malformed link to our site. These kinds of snafus happen.
- Something dreadful has occurred with our site. We beg your patience while our developers attempt to ameliorate the situation.
I understood the first sentence “Words fail us”, but after that, just give me a dunce cap and send me to the corner.
Words are fun, even though correct pronunciations escape me, and I never made it past the first round in any Spelling Bee, I found myself stuck in (elementary classroom fun).
So even though a 4th grader can understand and spell the English language better then me, at least I’ve never stopped trying to learn!
Oh, P.S. I got the same response for the word “scrumdigitallumpish. Most likely because it’s not a real word. Still fun to say though!
Catching up on new words
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