How Do They Decide When To Add New Words to the Dictionary?
Dictionaries are living documents that are updated with new words each year. Recently, Merriam-Webster added more than 200 terms, from social media slang (“touch grass,” meaning “to participate in normal activities in the real world especially as opposed to online experiences and interactions”) to science jargon (“heat index,” which is
“derived from a calculation using air temperature and relative humidity”). But much like how sports halls of fame induct only a select few players, dictionary editors and lexicographers don’t accept every word and slang term that comes across their desk. Their process takes into account several factors, such as the...
