A Sad Day for the English Language

Jiggy was bad enough.

The Eleventh Edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary has 100 new words and re-definitions of words added to it this year. A lot of the words were added because they have become part of our vernacular and are used on a regular basis. Some of them, on the other hand, seem to be pop terms that have already faded and come this time next year will seem dated (like ‘Jiggy’, ‘Phat’ and ‘Bling-Bling’). To this years dictionary we can now add the word CRUNK (for all of you Scrabble players, crunk will be worth a hefty 11 points).

Other words you can now lay down on the Scrabble board include:

chaebol (worth 14 points)- a family-controlled industrial conglomerate in South Korea

nocebo (10 points)- a harmless substance that when taken by a patient is associated with harmful effects due to negative expectations or the psychological condition of the patient

ginormous- extremely large : humongous

agnolotti- pasta in the form of semicircular cases containing a filling (as of meat, cheese, or vegetables)

While some of these words have been around since the 1940s (ginormous) others, like crunk, DVR and sudoku are all new from this millennium.