Dictionaries are an ever-changing record of language, constantly being updated, amended and added to. This goes for all dictionaries: Merriam-Webster, Oxford English Dictionary, Collin’s.
Updates to the dictionary can be new words entirely, or amendments for new meanings of existing words. As you can imagine, 2020 was a heck of a year with both Merriam-Webster and OED adding over 1,000 words, and Merriam-Webster just added over 500 more at the end of January 2021.
They also have fun, interesting articles, and if you want to see people get really riled up, I'd recommend the article about how the word literally literally isn't exclusive to describing something literally, but can literally mean hyperbolically to really emphasize a metaphor.
The article is titled Did We Change the Definition of 'Literally'? No, Literally every modern dictionary includes this definition
Merriam-Webster cites usage of the word literally in a figurative way as far back as Charles Dickens, with the line from the novel Nicholas Nickelby that reads, "Lift him out,' said Squeers, after he had literally feasted his eyes, in silence, upon the culprit".
F. Scott Fitzgerald did it (“He literally glowed”). So did James Joyce (“Lily, the caretaker’s daughter, was literally run off her feet”), W. M. Thackeray (“I literally blazed with wit”), Charlotte Brontë (“she took me to herself, and proceeded literally to suffocate me with her unrestrained spirits”) and others of their ilk.
Readers had some pretty strong opinions on this figuratively literal definition. Comments include:
Definition 2: the dictionary is literally wrong.
This is literally the stupidest thing I've ever read.
I literally can't even.
Unsurprisingly, the speed in which new words appeared in our collective daily vocabulary to being approved for addition to the dictionary during 2020 is unprecedented. Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries both added over a thousand words during the year, a lot due to the changes in well, everything.
2020 was also the first year that the Oxford English dictionary did not announce a "word of the year" instead describing 2020 as “a year which cannot be neatly accommodated in one single word”.
Oxford Dictionaries president Casper Grathwohl stated "I've never witnessed a year in language like the one we’ve just had,” and OED lexicographers described “seismic shifts in language data and precipitous frequency rises in new coinage” over the past 12 months.
Collin's dictionary and Merriam-Webster did choose a word of the year for 2020, and if you're anything like me, you probably want a chance to guess what words they are, so I'll give you 10 seconds.
Collin's dictionary 2020 word of the year is "lockdown"
And Merriam-Webster's word of the year is maybe most predictably "pandemic"
OED recorded that the use of the word "pandemic" went up over 57,000% in 2020. As well as increases of the words “remote” and “remotely” up over 300% since March 2020. 500% increases in usage of "On mute” and “unmute”, and of the portmanteaus “workation” up 500% and “staycation” up 380%.
Also sidenote, if you follow the pantone color of the year, they selected two colors for 2021, and both are...well...fitting for 2021, as they look like an Oscar the Grouch color palette.
But sorry, back to the dictionary. Of course 2020 wasn't just about the pandemic. OED also tracked monumental spikes in the words “impeachment”, “acquittal”, and “mail-in” up 3,000%. Use of “Black Lives Matter” and “BLM” went up over 5,000%, as did the term “QAnon”.
The speed in which words have been added to the dictionary has also been record breaking. Words can’t just be added to the dictionary, not officially, without some serious consideration. It is a lexicographer's job to compile dictionaries. When a new word appears in our vernacular, lexicographers are on it, tracking and determining their impact, frequency of use, and longevity. They track slang terms, acronyms, and alternate uses for existing words. Will these words be understood by the general population, and not just a specialized or regional dialect? To be added to the dictionary, lexicographers must analyze and determine if a word has “widespread, frequent, meaningful usage.” And sometimes this takes years. For example, “OMG” was only added to the dictionary in 2009 even though it had been observed in general use for about 15 years.
The speed in which new words were added to the dictionary recently is astounding. Prior to 2020, the fastest word added to the dictionary after it's noted initial usage was AIDS added to the dictionary in 1984, two full years after its first known use.
Last year, Merriam-Webster added the word Covid-19 just 34 days after its coinage.
Besides the pandemic, other words Merriam-Webster added to their dictionary include several words about identity and many that don't really work unless they're seen - which shows the major shift toward informal written communication like social media and texting, and the impact it has on our visual language. Words like "folx", as in F-O-L-X was added recently. Folx with an X is a variation from folks F-O-L-K-S, but differs in that Folx is a gender neutral collective noun used to address a group of people. Unlike the term "folks", the ending "-x" on "folx" specifically includes LGBTQ people and those who do not identify within the gender binary.
Senior editor for Merriam-Webster Emily Brewster states in Chicago Tribune article that quote "folx" is so interesting, especially because it absolutely requires that the word be seen. It really points very directly at how prominent written language is right now, because you cannot hear the difference when somebody says the word ‘folks’ with a ks or with an x.
The logogram @, meaning the "at" symbol, like the little lowercase a encircled in its own tail, also got an update in the dictionary, adding the informal usage meaning “to respond to, challenge, or disparage the claim or opinion of (someone)” —usually used in the phrase don't @ me. This phrase also requires it to be read for it to make sense, as people don’t commonly say “don’t at me”.
More 2020 amendments to existing words include “long hauler” which primarily refers to a long haul trucker, now has an additional definition as a person who experiences one or more long-term effects following initial improvement or recovery from a serious illness (such as COVID-19).
Similarly, the words “pod” and “bubble” have likewise been amended to mean a usually small group of people (such as family members, friends, coworkers, or classmates) who regularly interact closely with one another but with few or no others in order to minimize exposure and reduce the transmission of infection during an outbreak of a contagious disease. More 2020 entries to the dictionary: “self-isolate”, “physical distancing”, “contactless”, “deepfake”, “dark web”, “deep web”, “microtarget”.
The response to COVID-19 has moved many terms previously used mainly by medical researchers into our general vocabulary. Though these were already technically words, they were specialized and often used only by professionals in a given field, and therefore not found in general-use dictionaries. Words like “epidemic curve”, “immune surveillance”, “R-number”, “community immunity” and “herd immunity”.
Some internet slang have officially made it into Merriam-Webster like “reaction gif”, when instead of responding to a comment or text, you send a gif that emotes your response. Like when someone asks what I’m doing this weekend and I send that gif of the little pig eating cookies in bed, that literally kills me every time.
“Hard pass” was added as a term for a firm refusal. “Cancel culture”, “digital blackface” and “flex” also made their way into official dictionary status this year.
The way we work has undoubtedly been changing for a while now because internet, with an even more tremendous shift as of late. “Gig economy”, “makerspace”, “crowd funding”, “coworking” and “gig worker” all make new appearance in the dictionary.
One group of words that Merriam-Webster have been following closely are ones about identity, gender, sexuality, race, etc. Along with “folx” with an X, other new additions include the acronym BIPOC for “Black, indigenous, and people of color”, “sapiosexual” meaning of, relating to, or characterized by sexual or romantic attraction to highly intelligent people, and the term “silver fox” which to me seems a little outside the rest of the words, and I personally was surprised it wasn’t already in the dictionary, but I’m into it if you know what I’m saying. Actually I’m into all of this. But you know, don’t @ me on this.
I thought maybe the word “staycation” was added this year, but I was wrong, it was added by Merriam-Webster in 2009. However “staycation” actually first appeared in print in the Cincinnati Enquirer in July 1944, in an advertisement for Felsenbrau Supreme Beer. It Read
FOUR RED-WHITE-AND-BLUE REMINDERS FOR JULY
1. Don’t let the hot sun cool off your enthusiasm in your Victory Garden. It’s what you harvest, not what you plant, that’s important.
2. Take a Stay-cation instead of a Va-cation, this year. Trains and busses [sic] are crowded. Gasoline and tires must still be conserved.
3. Fill your coal bin now. Neither the mines, the railroads nor your coal dealer will be able to handle a last-minute rush.
4. Remember, no soldier ever got too many letters. Write every week. Write today. And send it V-mail. It’s safer, faster, surer. Saves vital cargo space.
V-mail is the abbreviation of victory mail, a U.S. term which, during the Second World War, denoted letters to or from home, reproduced photographically to conserve shipping space. To reduce the cost of transferring an original letter through the military post system, a V-mail letter would be censored, copied to film, and printed back to paper upon arrival at its destination.
V-mail correspondence was on small letter sheets, about (7 by 9 in), that would go through mail censors before being photographed and transported as thumbnail-sized image in negative microfilm. Upon arrival at their destination, the negatives would be printed. The final print was 60% of the original document's size, creating a sheet of about 4 by 5 inches
According to the National Postal Museum, "V-mail ensured that thousands of tons of shipping space could be reserved for war materials. The 37 mail bags required to carry 150,000 one-page letters could be replaced by a single mail sack. The weight of that same amount of mail was reduced dramatically from 2,575 pounds to a mere 45." This saved considerable weight and bulk in a time in which both were hard to manage in a combat zone.
In addition to postal censorship, V-mail also deterred espionage communications by foiling the use of invisible ink, microdots, and microprinting, none of which would be reproduced in a photocopy.
Okay, glad we got that out of the way. Sorry, that was a weird tangent for Staycation which again, was NOT added in 2020, but a good example of how often words change. Like V-mail, I mean, my grandparents were alive during that time so they would probably know what V-mail is, but I didn’t. But also, I’m fairly certain that none of my grandparents ever sent an email in their lifetime and probably wouldn’t trust it. It reminds me of those ageist posts on social media that say stuff like “kids these days don’t know what this is” and show a vinyl record, or scantron sheets, or those weird silver candy balls that used to be on cupcakes when I was a kid but apparently we weren’t supposed to eat them. And they’re posted as if that means something other than “ oh wow, the times and technology change” and for some reason fruitless nostalgia is more rewarded then the ability to adapt and grow? Or more succinctly, weird flex but okay.
2020 was also the year that “murder hornets” made it into the dictionary. Which, it is a little unsettling that last year was so tumultuous and wild that I forgot about murder hornets.
ASMR or autonomous sensory meridian response is also officially a term now. ASMR is a pleasant tingling sensation that originates on the back of the scalp and often spreads to the neck and upper spine, that occurs in some people in response to a stimulus (such as a particular kind of sound or movement), and that tends to have a calming effect. It is defined as a pleasant form of paresthesia, and has been compared with auditory-tactile synesthesia and may overlap with frisson. Common triggers for ASMR include listening to a softly spoken or whispering voice, or listening to quiet, repetitive sounds such as turning the pages of a book.
Another comfort word added in 2020 is hygge, a Danish word roughly translated as a cozy quality that makes a person feel content and comfortable, also related to Old High German “huggen” meaning "to think, have in mind, be mindful of, and to the English word “hug”.
The New Yorker, in the article The Year of Hygge, the Danish Obsession with Getting Cozy, describes hygge:
It is candles, nubby woolens, shearling slippers, woven textiles, pastries, blond wood, sheepskin rugs, lattes with milk-foam hearts, and a warm fireplace. Hygge can be used as a noun, adjective, verb, or compound noun, like hyggebukser, otherwise known as that shlubby pair of pants you would never wear in public but secretly treasure. Hygge can be found in a bakery and in the dry heat of a sauna in winter, surrounded by your naked neighbors. It’s wholesome and nourishing, like porridge; Danish doctors recommend “tea and hygge” as a cure for the common cold. It’s possible to hygge alone, wrapped in a flannel blanket with a cup of tea, but the true expression of hygge is joining with loved ones in a relaxed and intimate atmosphere.
And that might be my favorite recent addition to the dictionary this past year, and maybe a good note to end on. So take a long hot bath, then get back into those sweat pants, make yourself some hot cocoa or a hot toddy, or both, snack on some goldfish crackers, cuddle your pets and other loved ones, and watch something very very stupid on tv.
Links:
Merriam-Webster New Words 2021
Merriam-Webster Literally Misuses Literally
Oxford English Dictionary has too many words for 2020
How do words get added to the dictionary?
Oxford English Dictionary Defining Words of 2020
Coyote Bones Press
Books in the Wild
Smithsonian National Postage Museum V-Mail
“Hygge Sounds” - Rainy Night in a Coffee Shop
