The world’s leading online English-language dictionary has added over 300 new words to its site. Many of the new words come from the meme culture, social justice movements, and slang.
Among the many are words like “Yeet,” “Oof,” “Cultural appropriation,” “deplatform,” and even words like “snack” and “zaddy.”
The words “Y’all” as in you-all and “youse” or “you-uns” have also been added. The word “y’all” is widely known as a southern saying and has grown in popularity over time, Babble.com reported.
There are also some COVID-19 related words being added, like “Long-COVID,” which is defined as “a condition characterized by symptoms or health problems that linger or first appear after supposed recovery from an acute phase of COVID-19 infection.” Coronavirus pandemic-related words were included because the internet plays a key role in shaping how we interact with one another, especially during a pandemic.
“The latest update to our dictionary continues to mirror the world around us,” said John Kelly, the managing editor of Dictionary.com. “Long COVID, minoritize, 5G, content warning, domestic terrorism—it’s a complicated and challenging society we live in, and language changes to help us grapple with it.”
The editor also discussed how culture plays a significant role in how the dictionary defines existing brands and words.
The addition of new words will change how some words were related to derogatory terms, like the Aunt Jemima syrup.
With hopes of curbing a cultural divide, the dictionary will offer two new services; Grammar Coach, an artificial intelligence writing tool to help writers make fewer errors, correct grammar, and lend a thesaurus and Dictionary academy, which is a tutoring application offered to students to help expand vocabulary via the use of flashcards and quizzes.
