SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — It's some peoples' favorite time of year. The leaves are close to changing, temperatures are cooling off*, excitement that this may be the Broncos' year to get back over .500....the annual announcement that new words have been added to the dictionary.
Wait, what?
Yep, there are those who long (is long the right word that conveys peoples' anticipation? Yearn? Pine?). Anyways, logophiles (totally looked this up) rejoice! The dictionary has expanded!
Merriam-Webster announced on Wednesday 370 new words have been added to the lexicon.
Some people who read this will disagree with Merriam-Webster's editors' picks, some may even get angry, and then there will be the nonchalants who give a proverbial shrug. (Maybe they'll give a literal shrug when reading the list of new words. Who knows). I don't feel like there will be people celebrating 'yeet' and 'sus' being added, but there could be some strange** subset who are giddy that these words have been officially acknowledged.
So let's get into some*** of the new additions:
cringe slang : so embarrassing, awkward, etc. as to cause one to cringe : CRINGEWORTHY
space force : the military organization of a nation for space warfare
mud season : a time of year (such as early spring) that is characterized by excessively muddy ground
Any spring hikers out there know ALL about mud season.
shrinkflation : the practice of reducing a product's amount or volume per unit while continuing to offer it at the same price
Sadly, this is a word we've all learned about during and after the pandemic.
side hustle : work performed for income supplementary to one's primary job
Whoops...wrong hustle****
hoglet chiefly British : a baby hedgehog (see HEDGEHOG sense 1a)
And, my favorite addition this year...
MacGyver slang : to make, form, or repair (something) with what is conveniently on hand*****
Thanks for hanging this long with me and reading my drivel.*****
* For the love of it all, why is it still so hot? Could someone please turn off the broiler, or at least get this damned heat dome to move along. Seriously.
** Writers opinion. It's probably a generational thing. I've never said 'yeet' or 'sus', but there's enough people out there who have that it got added to the flipping dictionary.
*** I'm not typing out all 370 words. I'm off at 5. And your time is just as important as mine.
**** I know this isn't the hustle (the Google told me).
***** I know this GIF isn't MacGyver or even Richard Dean Anderson, but I loved MacGruber on SNL and think Will Forte was underutilized during his time on the show. <Will Forte fanboy rant over>
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