Guess What Is in the Dictionary?!?
What do frankenfood, Texas Hold 'em, Joe Schmo, and barista have in common? They are just four of the fun 2,000 new words added to the dictionary.
American English is a grand language for the simple reason that it's the most flexible language in the world. New words and usage are coined at a phenomenal rate, and they have just been given added legitimacy by The New Oxford American Dictionary. New entries range from agritainment (agricultural entertainment, which is tourists visiting farms) to zorse (cross a zebra with a horse and you get a zorse) and reflect the preoccupations of American culture, the times we live in, and the pluralism of our nation. Here are just a few examples.
Words in the News: al Qaeda, antiterrorism, frankenfood, Gitmo, intelligent design, Falun Gong, bunkerbuster, faith-based, hate crime, John F. Kerry, and greenwash.
Modern Times: 9/11, Amber alert, reality TV, taikonaut, smart mob, supersize, Texas Hold 'em, air rage, safe room, conflict diamond, fake bake, death metal, sizeism, smokeasy, trustafarian, mash up, permatemp, and barista.
Computers and Technology: adbot, blogosphere, bluetooth, wiki, phishing, malware, infoholic, addy, hacktivist, dataveillance, snert, megapixel, code monkey, lurker, and RFID.
Funny "ha ha" (and Funny "strange"): buckle bunny, cankle, clueful, cone of silence, FUD, ginormous, labradoodle, snivel gear, shojo, unobtainium, noogie, Joe Schmo, ka-ching, Raelian, and prairie-dogging.
Meanwhile, competitor Merriam-Webster asked visitors to its Web site to list their favorite words that aren't really words. And you have to admit that these non-words really should be words!
Top 5 Favorite Words (Not in the Dictionary)
1. ginormous (adj): bigger than gigantic and bigger than enormous
2. confuzzled (adj): confused and puzzled at the same time
3. woot (interj): an exclamation of joy or excitement
4. chillax (v): chill out/relax, hang out with friends
5. cognitive displaysia
: the feeling you have before you even leave the house that you are going to forget something and not remember it until you're on the highway
I like ginormous & confuzzled...gonna use those. I'll bet we can come up with a few.
What do frankenfood, Texas Hold 'em, Joe Schmo, and barista have in common? They are just four of the fun 2,000 new words added to the dictionary.
American English is a grand language for the simple reason that it's the most flexible language in the world. New words and usage are coined at a phenomenal rate, and they have just been given added legitimacy by The New Oxford American Dictionary. New entries range from agritainment (agricultural entertainment, which is tourists visiting farms) to zorse (cross a zebra with a horse and you get a zorse) and reflect the preoccupations of American culture, the times we live in, and the pluralism of our nation. Here are just a few examples.
Words in the News: al Qaeda, antiterrorism, frankenfood, Gitmo, intelligent design, Falun Gong, bunkerbuster, faith-based, hate crime, John F. Kerry, and greenwash.
Modern Times: 9/11, Amber alert, reality TV, taikonaut, smart mob, supersize, Texas Hold 'em, air rage, safe room, conflict diamond, fake bake, death metal, sizeism, smokeasy, trustafarian, mash up, permatemp, and barista.
Computers and Technology: adbot, blogosphere, bluetooth, wiki, phishing, malware, infoholic, addy, hacktivist, dataveillance, snert, megapixel, code monkey, lurker, and RFID.
Funny "ha ha" (and Funny "strange"): buckle bunny, cankle, clueful, cone of silence, FUD, ginormous, labradoodle, snivel gear, shojo, unobtainium, noogie, Joe Schmo, ka-ching, Raelian, and prairie-dogging.
Meanwhile, competitor Merriam-Webster asked visitors to its Web site to list their favorite words that aren't really words. And you have to admit that these non-words really should be words!
Top 5 Favorite Words (Not in the Dictionary)
1. ginormous (adj): bigger than gigantic and bigger than enormous
2. confuzzled (adj): confused and puzzled at the same time
3. woot (interj): an exclamation of joy or excitement
4. chillax (v): chill out/relax, hang out with friends
5. cognitive displaysia
: the feeling you have before you even leave the house that you are going to forget something and not remember it until you're on the highway I like ginormous & confuzzled...gonna use those. I'll bet we can come up with a few.
