Merriam-Webster adds slew of millennial favorites to its ever ‘embiggen’ dictionary

Grace Carr, DCNF

Merriam-Webster added 850 words to the dictionary to include more colloquial terms and millennial slang, but it turns out these changes don’t apply to its unabridged dictionary.

“The language doesn’t take a vacation and neither does the dictionary,” Merriam-Webster advertises, announcing it added a myriad of words to its online dictionary to keep up with evolving vocabulary and creation of new terms in areas of life including news, technology, Twitter and the like. “If you’re likely to encounter a word in the wild, whether in the news, a restaurant menu, a tech update, or a Twitter meme, that word belongs in the dictionary,” Merriam-Webster wrote.

New words include “glamping,” “mansplain“ and “subtweet.“ Other adopted words include “embiggen” to denote something getting bigger, and “welp,” which Merriam-Webster defines as an informal way “to introduce a remark expressing resignation or disappointment.”

Other additions include “dumpster fire” and “narcissistic personality disorder,” which is defined as “a personality disorder characterized especially by an exaggerated sense of self-importance, persistent need for admiration, lack of empathy for others, excessive pride in achievements, and snobbish, disdainful, or patronizing attitudes.”

None of these words exist, however, in Merriam-Webster’s unabridged dictionary.

Merriam-Webster lexicographer Emily Brewster tweeted “Happy Embiggened Dictionary Day!” while Merriam-Webster tweeted about why “dumpster fire” is now a coined phrase in the dictionary.

“After considering its widespread and meaningful evidence of use, we’ve put ‘dumpster fire’ in the dictionary. Feel free to GIF it as you like.” https://t.co/XImxk6c0EY

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) March 5, 2018

After considering its widespread and meaningful evidence of use, we've put 'dumpster fire' in the dictionary. Feel free to GIF it as you like. https://t.co/XImxk6c0EY

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) March 5, 2018

Merriam-Webster Dictionary also chose “feminism” as the 2017 word of the year in December after a few notable events — e.g., the Women’s March, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s loss to President Donald Trump, and the #MeToo hashtag following producer Harvey Weinstein’s and other Hollywood bigwigs’ indiscretions.

The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to Merriam-Webster, but they had no words in time for publication.

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