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Slew of words added to Merriam-Webster dictionary — clickbait, emoji and more

Posted at 8:10 PM, May 26, 2015
and last updated 2015-05-26 22:12:26-04

Merriam-Webster announced on Tuesday 1,700 new additions to their dictionary -- and you'll never guess the words that were added.

Clickbait, WTF, NSFW, emoji and several others were added to their unabridged version. Some of the new entries are for terms you've heard of, while others will be brand new.

In a blog post, Merriam-Webster said:

"As of last week, it’s grown by more than 1,700 entries, and existing entries have expanded by more than 700 new senses. We’ve added 3,200 examples that provide contextual information, and another 200 entries for some of the words people most frequently look up have been updated and enhanced."

Emoji's first known use was in 1997, but it's just joining the dictionary now. It refers to any of various small images, symbols, or icons used in text fields in electronic communication.

Clickbait refers to something designed to make readers want to click on link, especially when the link leads to content of dubious value or interest.

Now here's a new one: Eggcorn. No, it's not a new flavor of quiche or some kind of organic breakfast item. It's a word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical way for another word or phrase. "For all intents and purposes," for example is a set phrase. It gets misheard as "for all intensive purposes." That's an eggcorn.

There are two new abbreviation additions, both might keep you from getting fired from work. Yup -- NSFW and WTF are now part of the dictionary.

Here's the full list of new words (you can view the full definitions here):

colossal squid
colony collapse disorder
net neutrality
dark money
click fraudsharing
sharing economy
emoji
clickbait
meme
vocal fry
eggcorn
palliative care
neurofeedback
crema
lambrusco
chilaquiles
macaron
hsaing-waing
slendro
photobomb
jegging
NSFW
WTF