Merriam-Webster.com is displayed on a computer screen on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, in New York. Merriam-Webster has added 455 new words to its venerable dictionary, including a number of abbreviations and slang terms that have become ubiquitous on social media.(AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
Dad bod, amirite, TBH and FTW are now dictionary-appropriate.
Merriam-Webster has added 455 new words to its venerable dictionary, including a number of abbreviations and slang terms that have become ubiquitous on social media.
“Just as the language never stops evolving, the dictionary never stops expanding,” the nearly 200-year-old Springfield, Massachusetts-based company said on its website. "New terms and new uses for existing terms are the constant in a living language."
The dictionary company said the quick and informal nature of messaging, texting, and tweeting, which has only increased during the pandemic, has “contributed to a vocabulary newly rich in efficient and abbreviated expression.”
Among them: “TBH”, an abbreviation for “to be honest” and “FTW,” an abbreviation for “for the win.”
Merriam-Webster explains that FTW is used "especially to express approval or support. In social media, FTW is often used to acknowledge a clever or funny response to a question or meme.”
And it says “amirite” is a quick way to write “am I right,” as in, "English spelling is consistently inconsistent, amirite?”
The coronavirus pandemic also looms large in the collection of new entrants as “super-spreader,” “long COVID” and “vaccine passport” made the list.
Partisan politics contributed more slang to the lexicon, such as “whataboutism," which Merriam-Webster defines as “the act or practice of responding to an accusation of wrongdoing by claiming that an offense committed by another is similar or worse.” For Britons, the dictionary notes that “whataboutery” is more commonly used.
The dreaded “vote-a-ramas” that have become a fixture in the U.S. Congress is explained this way: “an unusually large number of debates and votes that happen in one day on a single piece of legislation to which an unlimited number of amendments can be introduced, debated, and voted on.”
And still, other new terms come from the culinary world, such as “fluffernutter,” the homey sandwich of peanut butter, marshmallow crème, and white bread.
Horchata, the cold, sweetened beverage made from ground rice or almonds and usually flavored with cinnamon or vanilla, also made the cut, as did chicharron, the popular fried pork belly or pigskin snack.
As for “dad bod”? The dictionary defines that as a “physique regarded as typical of an average father; especially: one that is slightly overweight and not extremely muscular.”
Brittan Heller, founder of the Center for Digital Civil Rights and a fellow at the Atlantic Council, joins Cheddar News to discuss the rise of sexual assault in the metaverse.
President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, have kicked off the first White House Easter Egg Roll since before the coronavirus pandemic, welcoming 30,000 kids and adults for the all-day event.
A container ship the length of more than three football fields has finally been pried from the muddy bottom of the Chesapeake Bay more than a month after it ran aground.
Christine Moore, a celebrity hat designer and featured milliner for the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby, joined Cheddar News to talk about how her headwear became a staple of race day fashion and what Derby watchers can come to expect at this year's horse racing event. “It's always go big or go home," she said. "And it's also very Southern belle style for the first leg of the triple crown, which is the Kentucky Derby." The race will be held on Saturday, May 7.
Content creator, rising musician, and star of the TikTok and Netflix reality show "Hype House," Alex Warren joined Cheddar to talk about overcoming the many challenges in his life in his rise to fame and discussed "Locked In," his new podcast. “All I had was a camera and a computer to my name, and it only made sense to film my experience of going house to house of my friends and saying this is what I can do in this situation," he said, explaining how he got his start.
With more than 6 billion views on YouTube and 12 million followers on social media, Xavier Mortimer is an award-winning, internationally-acclaimed magician and social media star. The former Cirque du Soleil performer joined Cheddar News to discuss his rise to fame on social media amid the pandemic. “Well basically my show closed overnight, and I had nothing else to do," he said. "I started to film videos at home and they took off on TikTok and Instagram." Mortimer also talked about "The Dream Maker," his Las Vegas magic show and even performs a little trick for Cheddar.
