Merriam-Webster adds 150 new words including tweep, selfie, Yooper and crowdfunding

[Justin Kahn]

More of the made up words birthed from the internet age like crowdfunding and phablet are being officially added into the dictionary. We last reported when Oxford added terms like derp, twerk and selfie, and now Merriam-Webster is following suit with a new batch of words including tweep and hashtag. Merriam is adding 150 new words to be exact, almost all of which are based on technology, social media and the internet.

"Tweep, selfie, and hashtag refer to the ways we communicate and share as individuals," Merriam-Webster's editor at large Peter Sokolowski said recently. "Words like crowdfunding, gamification and big data show that the Internet has changed business in profound ways."

There are also a number of new additions like steampunk that sound as though they should have been in there years ago, or at least well before tweep, a term referring to one's followers on Twitter, for those that don't already know. Some added terms are cultural in nature though, a Yooper for example, refers to the residents of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, many of which are of Scandinavian decent.

Merriam-Webster also considers insource, pho, poutine, spoiler alert and unfriend all to be official words now as well. Here are a few other new additions along with the date in which Merriam-Webster believes they were first used:

Auto-Tune (v., 2003): to adjust or alter (a recording of a voice) with Auto-Tune software or other audio-editing software esp. to correct sung notes that are out of tune

dubstep (n., 2002): a type of electronic dance music having prominent bass lines and syncopated drum patterns

hot spot (n., new sense): a place where a wireless Internet connection is available

paywall (n., 2004): a system that prevents Internet users from accessing certain Web content without a paid subscription

turducken (n., 1982): a boneless chicken stuffed into a boneless duck stuffed into a boneless turkey

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https://www.techspot.com/news/56818-merriam-webster-adds-150-new-words-including-tweep-selfie-yooper-and-crowdfunding.html

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Poutine is new to the list? What, did someone finally visit Canada and walk into a restaurant?! For those who haven't been in a greasy spoon in the great-white-north, a Poutine is french fries covered in gravy and cheese, and it isn't new. I'm actually shocked we don't have them in Wisconsin. We're usually first in line for something fried and covered in cheese.

 

[cmbjive]

Poutine is new to the list? What, did someone finally visit Canada and walk into a restaurant?! For those who haven't been in a greasy spoon in the great-white-north, a Poutine is french fries covered in gravy and cheese, and it isn't new. I'm actually shocked we don't have them in Wisconsin. We're usually first in line for something fried and covered in cheese.

Gravy and fries is great. Gravy, cheese, and fries just sound like diarrhea waiting to happen.

 

[CanadEan84]

Poutine is new to the list? What, did someone finally visit Canada and walk into a restaurant?! For those who haven't been in a greasy spoon in the great-white-north, a Poutine is french fries covered in gravy and cheese, and it isn't new. I'm actually shocked we don't have them in Wisconsin. We're usually first in line for something fried and covered in cheese.

No doubt eh?! Poutine has been around for as long as I can remember. Anyone who hasn't tried it should take the plunge with the exception of someone with allergies to this greatness.

Spoken as a Canadian.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Poutine is new to the list? What, did someone finally visit Canada and walk into a restaurant?! For those who haven't been in a greasy spoon in the great-white-north, a Poutine is french fries covered in gravy and cheese, and it isn't new. I'm actually shocked we don't have them in Wisconsin. We're usually first in line for something fried and covered in cheese.

Maybe it's because your dictionary hasn't got the words "cholesterol" or "heart attack" in it but don't worry about it though because mine doesn't have them either.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Gravy and fries is great. Gravy, cheese, and fries just sound like diarrhea waiting to happen.

Lol, Cheese... it puts the poo in poutine. I'll have to mention that to my Canadian friends.

Maybe it's because your dictionary hasn't got the word "cholesterol" or "heart attack" in it but don't worry about it though because mine doesn't have them either.

Oh, those words are in there... right next to 'denial.'

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Lol, Cheese... it puts the poo in poutine. I'll have to mention that to my Canadian friends.



Oh, those words are in there... right next to 'denial.'

You could be right. Who needs an alphabetical dictionary anyway when there's Google?

 

[p51d007]

Proving once again that the HUMAN race reached its peak, and now is devolving back to the primitive stage.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I didnt expect Dubstep to make it XD.

 

[captaincranky]

Gravy and fries is great. Gravy, cheese, and fries just sound like diarrhea waiting to happen.

Since when? Cheese is a very "binding" food. Try a downing half pound of sharp cheese along with a half bottle of Percocets (*). You'll practically forget about pooping for at least a week. And after that, it's kind of debatable if you'll even remember how.....

(*) Not all at once, though. Hay mucho peligro ahi

 

[Bubbajim]

Proving once again that the HUMAN race reached its peak, and now is devolving back to the primitive stage.

What a nice* comment. Language evolves, get over it.


*go look up the etymology of "nice".

 

[wiyosaya]

Gravy and fries is great. Gravy, cheese, and fries just sound like diarrhea waiting to happen.

Since when? Cheese is a very "binding" food. Try a downing half pound of sharp cheese along with a half bottle of Percocets (*). You'll practically forget about pooping for at least a week. And after that, it's kind of debatable if you'll even remember how.....

(*) Not all at once, though. Hay mucho peligro ahi

I know someone who's lactose intolerant. For that person, eating any dairy product would most likely result in at least a week on the pot.

 

[captaincranky]

I know someone who's lactose intolerant. For that person, eating any dairy product would most likely result in at least a week on the pot.

Lactose intolerance is a terrible tragedy. In cats, folk wisdom claims that cats like a saucer full of milk from time to time. However, if they are not given milk throughout their lives, they become lactose intolerant. I have two cats, one still drinks a bit of milk quite successfully pushing 12 years of age, the other, (about the same age), avoids it like the plague.

Me, I like to slug down about a pint of whole milk with my cookies, cake, or pie at bedtime. That, along with a couple of benadryl tablets, and I sleep like a baby, so do my bowels.

People of Asian origin are, by and large, lactose intolerant. That really doesn't seem to have held them back very much, as attested to by the existence of something like 3 billion Chinese. I'd suggest pumping their water supply full of lactose, which would precipitate, (pun intended), them spending less time in the bedroom, and more time on the can.

BTW, while it's true I did above indeed, recite some politically correct dogma, about lactose intolerance being a tragedy. The truth is, I could care less about anyone who is. All it means is more milk, ice cream, and pizza for me....

Cheese contains NO fiber, and is heavily laden with protein and fats. Accordingly , it has a slow gut transit time, with a heavy residue make up. Accordingly, in people who aren't lactose intolerant, it is a very binding food.

This is why our astronauts, (I believe), were given high protein, low residue means before heading off into space.

And pretty please, spare me a lecture me about cholesterol.

What a nice* comment. Language evolves, get over it....[ ].....

The trouble with the people of your generation is this; you think that self driving cars and better video game graphics is "evolution". Trust me, it's not.