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Merriam-Webster adds ‘F-bomb,’ ‘sexting’ to the dictionary

By Michael Sebastian | Posted: August 14, 2012
It’s a rite of August—when Merriam-Webster unveils the new words it’s adding to its print edition. On Tuesday, the 114-year-old dictionary teased the 100 words that comprise the annual update of its Collegiate Dictionary.

Kory Stamper, an associate editor for Merriam-Webster, told the Associated Press:
“This is a list of really descriptive and evocative, fun words. Some years, not so fun. Some years it's a lot of science words. Some years it's a lot of words around really heavy topics.”
Here are some of some this year’s interesting and/or practical additions:

F-Bomb. It describes the F-word, as in, “Did you hear the boss drop the F-bomb at today’s meeting?” According to the AP, the word surfaced in a 1988 Newsday article about late Mets catcher Gary Carter, but grew to prominence in the ‘90s thanks to former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight.

Sexting. This notorious term—which refers to sending sexually explicit messages via text—is relatively new, as Stamper explained in a column for The Daily Beast. But it’s been a subject of worry among parents and political handlers. See: Anthony Weiner. (The Concise Oxford English Dictionary added “sexting” to its roster of words in 2011.)

Earworm. You know that song you can’t get out of your head? That’s an earworm.

E-reader. It’s that device people stare at on the train, which prevents you from judging their reading choice. (The PR Daily definition, not Merriam-Webster’s.)

Mashup. This word is older than you think. The Internet popularized “mashup” as way to described something that’s created when two or more things are combined. But, as Stamper notes in The Daily Beast, the word dates back to 1859, when it referred to people speaking a “mashup” of languages.

Other additions worth noting: aha moment, gastropub, cloud computing, man cave, bucket list, brain cramp, and underwater (in reference to mortgages).

Last August, Merriam-Webster’s big addition was "tweet."

(Image via)