The pandemic pushed more culture and communication online than ever, and the wordsmiths at Merriam-Webster were watching.
They’ve added 455 new words and definitions to the dictionary for October to keep up with the evolving English language.
“The quick and informal nature of messaging, texting, and tweeting has contributed to a vocabulary newly rich in efficient and abbreviated expression,” Merriam-Webster explained on its website.
Here are a few of the new additions:
Amirite: Am I right? Merriam-Webster suggests that “English spelling is consistently inconsistent, amirite?”
Dad bod: A physique regarded as typical of an average father; especially: one that is slightly overweight and not extremely muscular.
TBH: To be honest.
FTW: For the win.
Deplatform: To remove and ban a user from a digital platform.
Because: In lieu of “because of.” Merriam-Webster explains: “This preposition use of because is versatile; it can be used, for example, to avoid delving into the overly technical (‘the process works because science’) or to dismiss explanation altogether (‘they left because reasons’).”
Also new to the dictionary are newly common COVID-related words and terms: long COVID, super-spreader, breakthrough and vaccine passport.
This story originally appeared on the Morning Edition live blog.
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