Posted on 05/26/2015 2:28:56 PM PDT by SMGFan
When your less internet savvy family members ask you what a meme is, you can now be the one to tell them to go look it up in the dictionary.
That's right, Merriam-Webster is adding "meme," "photobomb," "emoji" and "WTF," along with over 1,700 other words, to the unabridged dictionary. "Colossal squid" and "colony collapse disorder" also made the list, but they seem like the two that don't belong in a group that also includes "clickbait" and "NSFW."
Merriam-Webster posted a sampling of the new words being added to the next edition of the unabridged dictionary along with their official definitions.
(Excerpt) Read more at zap2it.com ...
WTF?
Lol
Stune
Beeber
Hugh
Series
HughManatee
And the latest addition:
Although almost all of Lazamataz's epic repeated postings has been deleted by the moderator, despite multiple requests to let it stand.
WTF ping ....
I’m not so sure I agree with the headline “Merriam-Webster legitimizes WTF, photobomb, emoji and more than 1700 other words”
It seems to me that the headline could just as well be this: “WTF and other terms delegitimize Merriam-Webster”
WTF- Why the face-Phil Dunphy!
Had to look up “NSFW”. Not Safe For Work, as in stuff you don’t want the boss to see on your computer.
No. Language always changes, dictionaries have to change with it to fulfill their function.
You are right of course. My comment wasn’t entirely serious, and was more of a complaint about the increasing coarseness of popular culture that would result in the term WTF making its way into the dictionary.
I’m not so sure I agree with the headline “Merriam-Webster legitimizes WTF, photobomb, emoji and more than 1700 other words”
It seems to me that the headline could just as well be this: “WTF and other terms delegitimize Merriam-Webster”
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Jeez, it’s neither of those.
A dictionary is, according to my dictionary’s defintion, an alphabetical listing of the words in a particular language.
Those words, like it or not, are part of the English language as spoken today, hence their (proper) inclusion in the dictionary.
I objected to the idea that Merriam-Webster could “legitimize” the term WTF, so that is why posted my comment.
It seems to me that the headline could just as well be this: “WTF and other terms delegitimize Merriam-Webster”
Neither is strictly true. Merriam-Webster is a descriptive dictionary, meaning that it describes the English language as it is used, not necessarily as it ought to be used. (The American Heritage Dictionary, a prescriptive dictionary, would be an example of the latter.)
In other words, usage legitimizes words, not the opinions of a dictionary editor. Photobomb, emoji, NSFW and the rest are in common usage online and their meanings are pretty well known. Hence they are legitimate, if colloquial, words.
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