Miriam Webster added 690 new words to their dictionary in September 2023. Some of these words are acronyms – abbreviations formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word. Acronyms are necessary in chat and SMS communication.
The word acronym was created in the 1940s from the Greek akron, end or tip, and the English word, onymn, combining form. An anacronym is an acronym made up of the initial letters in a phrase that results in a new pronounceable word (like SCUBA or URL). Over time people accept an anacronym as a word and tend to forget the original words associated with it. How many of you remember what SCUBA stands for? Spoiler alert: it’s self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.
While some may bemoan the addition of slang terms and acronyms used on social media, language is and should be evolving and changing. Words such as overmorrow, groak, curglaff, and snoutflair are now considered obsolete, but we’ll discuss that in our November issue. I’ve selected ten new words for this article. How many do you recognize or use in everyday conversation?
1. Zhuzh (noun or verb) – a small improvement, addition, or adjustment, that completes the overall look, flavor, or aesthetic of something. If you watch HGTV, you’ve probably heard designers and chefs use this word.
2. Bingo card (noun) – traditionally a bingo card is a square card used for the game of Bingo containing specific number/letter combinations. These number/letter combinations are drawn at random, and players try to be the first to fill in the spaces on their card in a diagonal, horizontal, or vertical line to win. A new definition of this word combination has been added. This new definition substitutes a usually unwritten list of possible, expected, or likely scenarios for an event for the number/letter combinations. The phrase is usually uttered to show levels of surprise about an outcome.
3. Bussin’ (adjective) – this word was taken from African American slang. It means excellent, delicious, or extremely good.
4. Generative AI (noun) – artificial intelligence capable of creating new content in response to a submitted prompt by learning from a large reference database of examples.
5. TFW (abbreviation) – short for “that feeling when” – used on social media and in texts to describe a relatable situation or image that evokes a specific emotion or feeling.
6. Smishing (noun) – the practice of sending text messages to someone in an attempt to trick them into revealing personal or confidential information that can be used for criminal purposes.
7. Non-player character (noun) – aka NPC. A character in a video game that doesn’t represent and cannot be manipulated by a player. Also, a character in a role-playing card game, board game, or live action game being controlled by an organizer, facilitator, or supporting participant in the game.
8. Thirst trap (noun) – a photograph (possibly a selfie) or a video shared for the purpose of attracting attention or causing another person to want or desire the image(s) depicted.
9. Doomscroll (verb) spending excess amounts of time online scrolling through news or other content that makes you anxious, sad, nervous, or angry.
10. Edgelord (noun) – Someone who makes especially dark and exaggerated statements usually on an online forum for the purpose of shocking others.