The new dictionary's here!
 

It's that time of year when Websters announces which new words they've added to the dictionary. This article mentions a bunch of them. Miriam-Webster's site mentions some. I guess you'll have to buy the book to see all 100 or so.

Here's what strikes me as odd. I've heard "unibrow" used regularly for almost 2 decades, and it's just making it in. Meanwhile, I've heard "himbo" maybe once as a joke, and there it is. Weird.

Interesting. I've never heard the word 'himbo' used before.
:)

I assume MW uses a process similar to the Oxford English Dictionary. The key that tends to produce weird lags is that dictionaries usually only care about usage in print so slang tends to lag well behind since it is much less likely to get into print.

Also, consistent usage over time is a factor. MW lists their first discovered use of "unibrow" as 1988 but it may be that it splashed onto the scene and then disappeared from print sources for most of the next decade.

The example I find interesting is "ringtone" which is dated to 1983 but I imagine until the last couple of generations of cellphones was purely an industry technical term.

It took a really long time for ain't to make it into the dictionary. I still don't know what it is a contraction for.

Is it weird that I get all tingly when I find out a new dictionary has been released?

I'm sure a round of antibiotics could clear that right up.

Totally wierd. :p ;)

Totally

"mouse potato"? :rolleyes: