Newly added words to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Betty — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:18:00 GMT

Why not see if new words added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary aren't new to you? A list of some of the more notable words and the year they were first used in an English-language publication might get you started. I am pleased that I actually blogged about dwarf planets. My first experience with edamame came when my son mentioned that he liked it a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't even sure what it was. And what's up with fanboy? How come it took it 89 years to make it into the dictionary? The very idea!

A sampling of the added words:

Dwarf planet (1993): celestial body that orbits the sun and has a spherical shape, but is too small to disturb other objects from its orbit.

Edamame (1951): immature green soybeans, usually in the pod.

Fanboy (1919): boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies.

Students might enjoy using words from the list to write paragraphs like this one:

Some malware locked me out of my webinar, so I headed down to the infinity pool to eat some edamame, fresh from the pod. A waitress came by with a glass of soju…or was it prosecco?

I'm sure a lot of spell checkers will go crazy in the process.:) You should see the red marks on my screen right now.

It might also be a great back to school activity to give students a list of some of the newly added words and have them write their own definitions before revealing the actual meanings of the words.

One ginormous squid

Betty — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:15:21 GMT

Just as the new Merriam-Webster dictionary adds a hundred new words for us to use and enjoy, a squid washes up on the beach in Australia to prove that the word ginormous is necessary. Ginormous (a combination of gigantic and enormous) is now available to use when something is just too big to believe. The squid is as long as a bus and weighs 550 pounds.

Students returning to school will probably enjoy using the word ginormous. A writing activity might even evolve as students attempt to find just what actually qualifies as being worthy of the word. I think the squid fits the bill nicely.

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Newly added words to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

One ginormous squid