Language paves the way so that we understand the world, but it also reflects the times we live in as the world continues to turn, change and grow.
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Dictionary.com added over 300 new words, terms and revised definitions to its database, and it’s an extremely interesting review of which terminologies have emerged from our fast-changing global society recently.
John Kelly, the managing editor of Dictionary.com, recognised the importance of updating the online dictionary to reflect the world at large. “It’s a complicated and challenging society we live in,” he said, per CNN. “Language changes to help us grapple with it.”
What’s especially curious and arguably a win (from the perspective of a GenZ who enjoys weird and wonderful communication) is the presence of internet slang turned into official words.
“Sometimes language changes just for fun,” Kelly expressed. “Perhaps these lighter slang and pop culture newcomers to our dictionary reflect another important aspect of our time–a cautious optimism and a brighter mood about the future ahead after a trying 2020.”
As a journal published in Frontiers in Psychology explored, “As society and the economy continue to develop, internet slang has shifted from being a mode of communication to being an everyday language. People’s communicative behaviour, language, and psychology have all been affected by the subtle influence of internet slang.”
Internet slang has long passed the usual mediums of music, art, pop culture and the like, and has snuck its way into advertising campaigns and dictionaries worldwide.
Another set of victors in the latest dictionary update are words that reflect social change. This is most widely reflected in initialism. With regard to terms, “cultural appropriation” has also found its well-deserved place in the dictionary. These are victors in updated language because they reflect what people have been most concerned with and what societal pillars are now aware of.
In terms of recent societal life, however, an updated dictionary would of course encompass health-related terms, as so many of our conversations are centred around health in light of living through a pandemic. Terms like “Long Covid” have now been introduced officially into the dictionary.
Here’s a more concrete list of some of the updated words, terms and phrases:
Health:
- Long Covid: a condition characterised by symptoms or health problems that linger or first appear after supposed recovery from an acute phase of Covid-19 infection.
- Long Haul: (Pathology) relating to or being a condition characterised by symptoms or health problems that linger or first appear after supposed recovery from an associated acute illness or active infection.
Technology:
- 5G: fifth-generation: being or relating to communications technology or a mobile device that supports much faster data-transfer speeds with significantly lower latency than previous versions.
- Asynchronous: relating to or being a computer operation that can occur independently, without waiting for another event.
- Deplatform: to prohibit (a person or people) from sharing their views in a public forum, especially by banning a user from posting on a social media website or application.
- Synchronous: relating to or being a computer operation that must complete before another event can begin.
Slang:
- Yeet: The online dictionary states that yeet can be used as “an exclamation of enthusiasm, triumph, pleasure, joy, etc.”
- Y’all: “Y’all has new popularity among former you guys users, who now appreciate the lack of gender associations with y’all,” according to the Dictionary.com post.
- Zaddy: an attractive man who is also stylish, charming, and self-confident.
- Oof: an exclamation used to sympathize with someone else’s pain or dismay, or to express one’s own.
- Snack: (Slang) a sexy and physically attractive person; hottie.
- Youse: you (usually used in addressing two or more people).
Initialism and Identity Politics:
- DEI (Diversity, Equity ad Inclusion)
- JEDI (Justice, equity, diversity and inclusion)
- CW (Content warning): a stated warning that the content of the immediately following text, video, etc., may upset or offend some people
- TW: (Trigger warning) refers to media alerts shared before discussing potentially upsetting or violent topics.
Cultural appropriation: the adoption, usually without acknowledgement of cultural identity markers from subcultures or minority communities into mainstream culture by people with relatively privileged status.
Hypodescent: the classifying or identifying of a biracial or multiracial individual as a member of the lower or lowest socially ranking racial group from which that person has ancestry.
Now, you can potentially submit your essay with the word “yeet” in the headline and say the Dictionary thought it was cool.
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