'Girl dinner,' 'bussin' and 'the ick': More than 300 new entries added to Dictionary.com
It may have started off as a video that exploded into a meme, but "girl dinner" is now one of more than 300 words added to Dictionary.com's lexicon in 2024.
On Tuesday, Dictionary.com announced it was adding 327 new entries, 173 new definitions for existing entries and 1,228 revised definitions to the dictionary. The newly-added terms are broad, stemming from major topics of the day and range from economics and climate to health and wellness and slang.
“The intersection of language, learning, and culture is boundless, and we recognize that words have the power to shape thoughts, bridge gaps, and reflect our ever-evolving society,” John Kelly, vice president of editorial at Dictionary.com said in a release. “Our semi-annual New Words announcement is meant to support a greater understanding of where language is, where it might go next—and why the constantly expanding universe of words matters for our everyday lives.”
Here's a look at just some of the hundreds of words recently added to Dictionary.com, as well as their definitions and the origin behind the term. The full list of new words can be found on Dictionary.com.
Girl dinner
Noun
Often attractively presented collection of snacks that involve little preparation, such as small quantities of cold cuts, cheese, fruit, cherry tomatoes, etc., deemed sufficient to constitute a meal for one.
Girl dinner went viral after TikTok user Olivia Maher used the term in a video in May 2023, possibly shortening an earlier version, hot girl dinner, that often included decadent or youth-maintaining food.
Mid
Adjective
Mediocre, unimpressive, or disappointing.
Bussin'
Adjective
Great; wonderful; amazing.
Popular among Gen Z, this term originates in African American culture and is likely based on various senses of bust meaning “to explode,” “to do well,” or “to enjoy.”
The ick
Noun
A sudden feeling of disgust or dislike, often in response to the actions of another person.
This phrase, popular in dating culture and on TikTok, is thought to trace back to the late 1990s TV show Ally McBeal. The ick is also used as an informal term for an illness, especially a cold or flu.
Cheat code
Noun
A ploy or technique that bypasses traditional methods or rules in order to improve oneself or one’s success.
This more recent sense of the term is an extension of its use in the context of video games, in which it refers to a hidden command, code, etc., used to gain an advantage, such as by advancing levels or enhancing a character’s strengths.
Range anxiety
Noun
The apprehension or fear that an electric vehicle’s battery will run out of power beforereaching one’s intended destination or a charging station.
Skiplagging
Noun
The practice of purchasing an air ticket for a flight with a layover at one’s true destination, getting off at the layover point, and skipping the last leg of the flight: a workaround to avoid paying a higher fare for a direct flight to one’s destination.
The verb form is skiplag, a compound of skip, “to jump or pass over,” and lag, “an instance of staying behind."
Bed rotting
Noun
The practice of spending many hours in bed during the day, often with snacks or an electronic device, as a voluntary retreat from activity or stress.
Despite the negative connotation of rotting, many use this term in a positive way to refer to what they consider a form of self-care. The verb form is bed rot.
Pretty privilege
Noun
An unearned and mostly unacknowledged societal advantage that a person has by fitting into the beauty standards of their culture.
Pretty privilege uses the same construction as white privilege and similar terms.
Barbiecore
Noun
An aesthetic or style featuring playful pink outfits, accessories, decor, etc., celebrating and modeled on the wardrobe of the Barbie doll.
We’re likely still fully within the trend of using -core to form names for niche aesthetics, such as cottagecore and normcore.
Slow fashion
Noun
A movement among clothing producers and consumers that emphasizes eco-friendly, well-made clothing, maintenance and repair of garments to extend their lifespan, and a general reduction of one’s consumption of new clothing items.
This term is used in contrast with fast fashion. The fast/slow framing is perhaps best known for its use in the distinction between fast food and slow food, but it will likely continue to be applied in other contexts where there is interest in sustainable practices.
Bechdel test
Noun
A test of gender stereotyping and inequality in fiction, having a number of variations and used especially with movies, based on whether the work includes at least two fairly important female characters who talk to each other about something besides a man.
The first recorded uses of the term Bechdel test come from between 2005 and 2010, but the concept was introduced by cartoonist Alison Bechdel in a 1985 comic strip.
Tommy John surgery
Noun
An operation to repair a torn ligament on the inner side of the elbow by replacing it with a tendon from elsewhere in the body or from a donor.
Common among baseball players, the surgery gets its name from pitcher Tommy John, on whom the procedure was first performed in 1974. It is formally called ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction.
Prebiotic
Noun
A substance containing dietary fiber that stimulates the growth or activity of beneficial bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.
Greedflation
Noun
A rise in prices, rents, or the like, that is not due to market pressure or any other factor organic to the economy, but is caused by corporate executives or boards of directors, property owners, etc., solely to increase profits that are already healthy or excessive.
The verb form is greedflate. Other recently added inflation words include shrinkflation and shadow inflation.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dictionary.com adds over 300 new entries, including 'girl dinner'
