Nepo baby. Crony capitalism. Blursday. Over 500 new words added to Dictionary.com.
Are you greenwashing? How much sleep debt do you have?
If you're unfamiliar with those terms you're probably not the only one, but they're now recognized by the most famous online dictionary.
Dictionary.com added more than 566 new words, 348 new definitions for existing entries and 2,256 revised definitions Wednesday as the dictionary works to "keep pace with the ever-changing English language."
"As you can imagine, recording the ever-changing language is incredibly enjoyable while also being intellectually stimulating," said Grant Barrett, head of lexicography at Dictionary.com in a statement.
“Even though dictionary-making is what we do, we're still delighted with the variety, depth and complexity of this big batch of terms. There's so much that shows how vibrant the language is, as it keeps up with changes in culture and society," he added.
The website also updated entries to replace binary-gendered phrases like "he or she" with "they" in a move to use more inclusive language.
New words added to Dictionary.com
The 566 new words added to Dictionary.com are from a variety of topics including pop culture and slang, modern problems, artificial intelligence, climate and extreme weather and health and wellness.
Some popular additions include nepo baby, Big Pharma, generative AI, GPT, coffee nap and amalgagender. Here are some of the new words and what they mean:
Jawn: something or someone for which the speaker does not know or does not need a specific name.
Nepo baby: a celebrity with a parent who is also famous, especially one whose industry connections are perceived as essential to their success.
Unsee: to remove (something seen) from one's memory or conscious awareness; to forget or ignore images or the like.
Unsend: to delete (a digital message such as an email or text) from the devices of the sender and receiver.
NIL: name, image, likeness: aspects of a collegiate athlete’s identity for which they may earn money from a third party, as for advertising sponsorship or merchandise sales, although they are prohibited from being paid directly by colleges and universities for their participation in intercollegiate sports.
Blursday: a day not easily distinguished from other days, or the phenomenon of days running together.
Godwin’s Law: an adage of internet culture stating that as any discussion or debate grows longer, there is a proportionate increase in the probability that someone will invoke a comparison to Hitler or the Nazi party.
Information pollution: the introduction of falsehood, irrelevance, bias, and sensationalism into a source of information, resulting in a dilution or outright suppression of essential facts.
Greenwashing: an instance or practice of promoting or affiliating a brand, campaign, mission, etc., with environmentalism as a ploy to divert attention from policies and activities that are in fact antienvironmentalist.
Crypto-fascism: secret support for fascism.
Crony capitalism: an economic system in which success in business is obtained through relationships to people in political power rather than through competition.
Big Pharma: pharmaceutical companies considered collectively, especially with reference to their political and commercial influence.
Generative AI: artificial intelligence that is designed to process prompts from users and respond with text, images, audio, or other output that is modeled on a training data set.
Chatbot: a computer program designed to respond with conversational or informational replies to verbal or written messages from users.
GPT: generative pre-trained transformer: a type of machine learning algorithm that uses deep learning and a large database of training text in order to generate new text in response to a user's prompt.
Coffee nap: a short nap, usually 15–30 minutes, taken immediately after drinking a cup of coffee, the claimed benefit being that the energizing effect of caffeine may be bolstered by a sleeping body’s drop in adenosine levels.
Sleep debt: the difference between the amount of sleep a person needs and the actual amount of time spent sleeping, when the amount needed exceeds the time slept.
Stress eating: emotional eating, especially in response to stress, tension, or anxiety.
Intermittent fasting: a pattern of eating that involves regular short periods of fasting, such as by limiting food intake to a certain period of the day or to fewer meals on certain days of the week.
Polyromantic: noting or relating to a person who is romantically attracted to people of various genders, but not necessarily to people of all genders.
Autosexual: noting or relating to a person who primarily feels sexual attraction to and desire for themselves, as opposed to other people.
Climate criminal: a person, business, country, or other entity whose actions or activities are considered particularly destructive to the environment.
Eco-hazardous: bad or dangerous for the environment.
Dictionary.com removes binary-gendered phrases
Dictionary.com has also announced the decision to remove binary-gendered phrases like "his or her" and "he or she," which had appeared in hundreds of entries.
"This change was made for two reasons: inclusivity and usage," said Dictionary.com in their statement.
“Updating binary-gendered phrases makes the entries more similar to how people actually speak and write. The entries are now more natural sounding," said Barrett.
Dictionary.com said that it "aspires to empower every person, of every background to express themselves, make connections and open the door to opportunity through the power and joy of language".
What does 'MBN' mean? Here's what it means and how to use for texts, social media.
How does Dictionary.com add words?
Dictionary.com says it doesn't make up words – words are added "because they’re real – because they’re really used by real people in the real world."
"We can’t endorse any word, but we can document their use in the real world. We are descriptive—we describe language as it is really used (not just how we or others may wish it would be used)," said Dictionary.com.
Dictionary.com uses the following criteria to determine whether a word should be added:
It’s a word that’s used by a lot of people.
It’s used by those people in largely the same way.
It’s likely to stick around.
It’s useful for a general audience.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is NIL? Nepo Baby? Jawn? New definitions added to Dictionary.com
