You may have never imagined “zaddy” to be at the back of a dictionary, but now it is.
Dictionary.com has added over 300 new words ranging from terms created as a result of COVID-19, to updating basic slang.
John Kelly, the managing editor of Dictionary.com, understands the need to keep the online dictionary an ever-evolving document of information. “It’s a complicated and challenging society we live in, language changes to help us grapple with it,” he said in an interview with CNN.
COVID-19 influenced the addition of “long COVID”: a condition characterized by symptoms or health problems that linger or first appear after supposed recovery from an acute phase of COVID-19 infection and “long hauler” : a person who experiences symptoms or health problems that linger or first appear after supposed recovery from an associated acute illness or active infection. amongst the medical terms added.
A shift in cultural awareness created the need to define terms such as “Cultural Appropriation”: the adoption, usually without acknowledgment, of cultural identity markers from subcultures or minority communities into mainstream culture by people with a relatively privileged status. On that same token, we see the inclusion of “deplatforming”: to prohibit (a person or people) from sharing their views in a public forum, especially by banning a user from posting on a social media website or application.
Among the lighter definitions– slang words such as “snack,” (a sexy and physically attractive person; hottie), “zaddy” (an attractive man who is also stylish, charming, and self-confident), and “yeet” (an exclamation of enthusiasm, approval, triumph, pleasure, joy, etc) all joined the Dictionary.com ranks.
Any surprises here?