Metaglossia: The Translation World

Merriam-Webster Inc., has announced its latest lineup of brave new words. Each year the 114-year-old company chooses around a hundred new words that will be enshrined in the pages of its dictionaries.

Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary has added ten new words to its 2012 edition: “f-bomb,” ”aha moment,” ”man cave,” “sexting,” “gastropub,” “e-reader,” “bucket list,” “earworm,” “game changer” and “mashup.”

In the past 24 hours, “f-bomb,” “sexting” and “man cave” were among the most frequently looked up words on the dictionary’s website. Some of these words have been circulating within the English-speaking population for decades.

The Daily Beast reported the earliest citation for “aha moment” came from a 1939 psychology text. The phrase’s popularity was propelled by Oprah Winfrey and her talk show.

The ever-changing river of language is getting an adjustment in the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary with the addition of several words.

Language is like a river, where tributaries and eroded banks are constantly changing the stream. At least that's how Dan Striver, language lover and professor of theology at Hardin-Simmons University, feels.

This ever-changing river of language is getting an adjustment in the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary with the addition of several words.

"Man cave," "sexting," "earworm," "mash-up," "aha moment," "cloud computing" and "energy drink" are among the newest words defined in the book.

Stiver, who has written a book on philosophy of religious language, likes to read about and consider the flexibility and fluidity of language. He said the constant movement of language does not make him the least bit surprised that words are constantly being added to the dictionary, especially about technology.

The term “F-bomb” first surfaced in newspapers more than 20 years ago but only landed in the mainstream Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary on Tuesday, along with sexting, flexitarian, obesogenic, energy drink and life coach.
In all, the company picks about 100 additions for the 114-year-old dictionary’s annual update, gathering evidence of usage over several years in everything from media to the labels of beer bottles and frozen food.
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Many online dictionary and reference sites already list F-bomb and other entries Merriam-Webster is only now putting into print. A competitor, Oxford University Press, has F-bomb under consideration for a future update of its New Oxford American Dictionary but beat Merriam-Webster to print on a couple of other newcomers: mash-up, added to the Oxford book in 2005, and cloud computing, included in 2010.

Behind the doors of the hulking Merriam-Webster building in Springfield, the past is very much present. Inside is the oak cabinet built to show off Webster’s International Dictionary of the English Language at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Old signs and photographs are on display, but the most precious relic is the 1806 dictionary that Noah Webster labored over for 20 years.

For that dictionary, Webster defined 37,000 words (the current unabridged Merriam-Webster dictionary contains about 500,000) and Americanized British spellings, excising an “l” from “traveller,” turning “gaol” into “jail,” and so on. Yet reviews were mixed, sales slow. Webster’s next dictionary, published in 1828, had almost twice as many words and became an American standard but his publisher went bankrupt. His 1841 revision, priced at $15, sold poorly. When Webster died in 1843, the future of his monumental achievement was in doubt.....

What about the future? Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, first published in 1898 and now in its 11th edition, has been one of the best-selling hardcover books in American publishing history but today it’s available for free online. The company has dictionary apps for the iPad, iPhone, and Android platforms, and this fall it will unveil a redesigned subscription website for the unabridged dictionary. The most recent print edition of the unabridged Webster’s dictionary holds a 2002 copyright. Will there be another? Morse said no decision has been made. “I have a feeling,” he said, “that the death of the print dictionary will be predicted many times before it actually happens.”

The office of Merriam-Webster may have existed in essentially the same spot, in Springfield, Massachusetts, since 1831, but in that time, the dictionary business has changed drastically.

Mobile versions of Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law were released this week, compatible with either iOS or Android devices. Both include more than 10,000 legal words and phrases, along with information on cases, laws and the legal system.

American English Dictionary for Students of ESL, EFL, and the TOEFL® Test