Extra! Extra! Read all about it. Apparently, Merriam-Webster dictionary added over 600 new words. I honestly have no idea whether that is a lot or not. I’m just amused by some of the added words. Usually, I get into reading about new words at the end of the calendar year as part of the ubiquitous end-of-the-year reviews. I love reading about the word of the year lists. The way this year has been going thus far, I seriously can’t imagine the word for this year being a calm one. But the year is still young. I suppose.

But back to this list of 600+ new words. It’s a big deal in these times. These words can be already-existing words that have evolved with the times to get new meanings or they are whole new words that come into our language. These words, as a group, reflect changing norms, perceptions, and dynamically changing interpersonal relations. They often reflect new ways of living. For instance, the word “screen time” was added on the very day that pediatricians warned parents to not let babies have screen time. Both the words “purple” and “snowflake” have newly acknowledged meanings. And for those of us often communicating through some form of social “buzzy” and “stan” are words we have been mindful of that are now in the dictionary.

Some of my favorite new words include swole, bug-out bag (which I used in California a lot) and garbage time (because I gave it my own meaning). I’m seriously considering creating a mimi dictionary since everyday I make up a new word. Ok, maybe not everyday but definitely once a week. But I can concretize that at some other point in time 😉