A number of new slang words - including some that anyone over a certain age might not even have heard of - have now been added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
A bit of admin before we start - there are other dictionaries available, but Merriam-Webster describes itself as ‘America’s most trusted’ of the whole bunch.
Whether that remains the case after this new set of words is anyone’s guess.
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Obviously, language is a constantly evolving thing, otherwise we’d all be speaking in the same guttural grunts and noises that our distant ancestors used to communicate ask one another if they wanted a wooden beaker full of strained leaves across a cave tens of thousands of years ago.
So, as new words and new things are created, we need to keep updating the repositories of this knowledge, which is where the dictionary comes in.
As technology and the internet advances, it seems as if online vernacular and slang changes every single week.
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That means that there are updates made all the time.
Without further ado, here are some of the more unusual words that have been added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary for September 2023.
There’s 690, but we’ll start with ‘rizz’.
For anyone who doesn’t know what that means, it’s basically an equivalent of ‘chat’ or ‘patter’, specifically with a potential romantic partner.
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It’s defined as ‘romantic charm and appeal’ by the dictionary.
Then, we’ve got ‘zhuzh’, which they define as ‘a small improvement, adjustment, or addition that completes the overall look, taste, etc. of something; verb : to improve in flavour or appearance by way of a small improvement, adjustment, or addition - often used with up’.
There are some more obvious ones than those two, including ‘doggo’, ‘tiny house’, and ‘rage quit’, as well as ‘crate dig’, ‘rewild’ and ‘passkey’.
From current events, there are additions like ‘generative AI’ and ‘UAP’ - unidentified anomalous phenomena, in case you’re wondering.
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As we mentioned, there are 690 of these, so we’re not going to list all of those.
But, honourable mentions go to ‘bussin’, ‘jumpscare’, ‘GOATED’.
Perhaps the finest addition has to go to a word that will be known by people of a slightly more advanced age than anyone who has ever said ‘rizz’.
Yes, Simpsons fans, they’ve finally added the word ‘cromulent’ to the dictionary.
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Made famous by the world’s favourite cartoon, it is defined as ‘acceptable, satisfactory’ and is - finally - a perfectly cromulent word.
Here’s the full list of slang terms and what they mean, as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
· Rizz noun, slang : romantic appeal or charm.
· Zhuzh noun : a small improvement, adjustment, or addition that completes the overall look, taste, etc. of something; verb : to improve in flavor or appearance by way of a small improvement, adjustment, or addition - often used with up.
· Doggo noun, slang : dog.
· Padawan noun, informal : a young person especially when regarded as naïve, inexperienced, etc.
· Bingo card noun … 2 slang : a list of possible, expected, or likely scenarios - usually used in the phrase on one's bingo card.
· Simp verb, informal : to show excessive devotion to or longing for someone or something.
· GOATED adjective, slang : considered to be the greatest of all time.
· Bussin’ adjective, African American English slang : extremely good : excellent; especially : delicious, tasty.
· Cromulent adjective, informal + humorous : acceptable, satisfactory.
· Mid adjective … 2 informal : neither very good nor very bad : so-so, meh.
· NGL abbreviation, informal not gonna lie; not going to lie.
· TFW abbreviation, informal that feeling when - used especially on social media or in text messages to introduce a relatable scenario or an image that evokes a specific feeling.
· TTYL abbreviation, informal talk to you later.
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