Language is, arguably, the first draft of history. The official words that make up a language are, therefore, indicative of the time and culture we live in. Which is why Merriam-Webster dictionary's decision to add 250 new words to the English lexicon is pretty exciting news.
"These terms have shown themselves to be fully established members of the language, some after hanging about on the fringes for decades, and others after proving themselves too useful to ignore in relatively short order," reads an official statement on the dictionary's website. "All have demonstrated significant use in a variety of sources, making them words our readers expect to find in the dictionary."
It should come as no surprise, then, that a lot of the additions have to do with politics and have been part and parcel of daily dialogues since the latest Presidential election kicked off. The new batch of terms includes "troll" ("to harass, criticize or antagonize (someone) especially by provocatively disparaging or mocking public statements, postings or acts"), "alt-right" ("a right-wing, primarily online political movement or grouping based in the U.S. whose members reject mainstream conservative politics and espouse extremist beliefs and policies typically centered on ideas of white nationalism") and "dog whistle" ("an expression or statement that has a secondary meaning intended to be understood only by a particular group of people").
Food-related words appear as well, including "sriracha" ("a pungent sauce that is made from hot peppers pureed with usually garlic, sugar, salt and vinegar and that is typically used as a condiment"), "bibimbap" ("a Korean dish of rice with cooked vegetables, usually meat and often a raw or fried egg") and "froyo" ("frozen yogurt").
Interestingly enough, the word "pregame" was not really a word (at least not in the official way) until today. The definition "has ventured from its transparent adjectival meaning into new territory: As an informal verb meaning 'to begin drinking alcohol before an event or activity (such as a party or a night out)'."
Check out some more dictionary additions right here.