FEBRUARY 2017 Times Change…Words Change
See how many of these ‘new words’ you use in everyday conversation.
In the latest update to
Dictionary.com more than 300 new words and definitions
were added. Many of the newly added terms are pulled straight from the headlines like Daesh, intersectionality, warmist, woke, and Zika virus. Several of the new words relate di- rectly to the media, including lamestream, presstitute, and hot take. Mainstream cultural conversations give
Dictionary.com’s lexicographers an end-
less supply of words to research. In this update, users will find new senses of the word ghosting, which has spread like wildfire thanks to the rise of dating apps like Tinder. Originally an academic term, intersectionality is now widely used in popular culture to frame and analyze discussions, most recently about Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade. Fashion trends also make their mark on this update with the addition of the terms athleisure, lumbersexual, and mom jeans to
Dictionary.com. Gaming is often a source of neologisms, and the latest update includes Pokémon
and Minecraft. Some words received lexicographical treatment because of their ties to recent cultural patterns like al desko, a term used to describe eating lunch at your desk, or free-range parenting, from the ongoing and often contentious debates about child rearing.
Here’s a selection of words added in this update with brief definitions: • al desko: eating at one’s desk in an office.
• athleisure: a style of clothing inspired by athletic apparel but also worn as casual, everyday wear.
• deso: designated driver.
• free-range parenting: a style of child rearing in which parents allow their children to move about without constant adult supervision, aimed at instilling independence and self-reliance.
• ghosting: the practice of suddenly ending all contact with a person without expla- nation, especially in a romantic relationship.health goth: a fitness enthusiast who is part of the goth subculture.
• hot take: a superficially researched and hastily written journalistic piece, online post, etc., that presents opinions as facts and is often moralistic.
• intersectionality: the theory that the overlap of various social identities, as race, gender, sexuality, and class, contributes to the specific type of systemic oppression and discrimination experienced by an individual.
• lamestream: noting or relating to tra- ditional print and broadcast media, when regarded as lacking the fairness, creativity, etc., of independent online news sources.
• lumbersexual: a man whose style of dress and appearance is reminiscent of the ruggedly masculine stereotype of the lumberjack.
• manspread: to sit with one’s legs far apart, taking up too much space on a seat shared with other people.
• Minecraft: a sandbox video game with construction, crafting, exploration, and combat mechanics, available on many game platforms.
• mom jeans: unstylish women’s jeans.
• Pokémon: a media franchise includ- ing video games, animated television series, movies, card games, etc. that depict a fictional class of pet monsters and their trainers.
• presstitute: a journalist or media source whose news coverage is con- sidered to be inappropriately influ- enced by business interests, political motives, etc.
• warmist: a person who accepts global warming as a reality (a term used by people who reject the concept).
• woke: actively aware of systemic in- justices and prejudices, especially those related to civil and human rights.
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