# 100 new words added to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary in 2009 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517 "2009-07-10T01:19:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/21 "2009-07-10T15:02:01Z")
Come on man; zip line? I’ve been hearing that word for as long as I can remember. What do they call it in the army? :dubious: Same goes for earmark. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/22 "2009-07-10T15:07:08Z")
Merriam-Websters is running a business. I won’t be buying anything from them. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/23 "2009-07-10T15:13:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I am shocked some of those words aren’t already in M-W. “Earmark” just made it in? “Missalette” (growing up Catholic, we had missalettes at church since as far back as I can remember, which would be late 70s/early 80s.) “Shawarma”? LOL! Missalette is the only one I had no clue for. And I grew up Catholic! ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/24 "2009-07-10T15:37:34Z")
So I looked up “goji,” because all I could think was, “‘Five o’clock’ in Japanese?” Apparently it’s some kind of berry, but what’s odd is the entry says, “Date: 2003.” Shouldn’t it list 2009? ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/25 "2009-07-10T18:00:57Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > OK, so what is a zip-line? The sealing device on a baggie? My WAG is the wire you slide down while holding onto two handles. You know, like they do in action flicks? I guy will throw a towel across a wire and slide all the way down to the ground? Or in the jungle, when they fly around in the trees. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/26 "2009-07-10T18:44:20Z")
Those of you trashing M-W, what _is_ your dictionary of choice then? Someone already linked to a list of stupid shit in the _OED_, such as “bouncebackability” (which is _not_ in M-W’s, by the way). [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com)? Yeah there’s a source of scholarly preeminence. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/27 "2009-07-10T18:44:42Z")
They just figured out now that “earmark”, “zip-line”, and shwarma are words? And what’s with the three a’s in sh[a]warma? Two syllables: Shwar. Muh. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/28 "2009-07-10T18:57:01Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Those of you trashing M-W, what _is_ your dictionary of choice then? Someone already linked to a list of stupid shit in the _OED_, such as “bouncebackability” (which is _not_ in M-W’s, by the way). Butbutbut the OED has \*Oxford \*in the name! And _English_! Personally, I go by the “I have a B.A. in English so I’m allowed to make up whatever the hell I want” dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/29 "2009-07-10T19:01:05Z")
Well, for something like “zip line”, there is a interesting question about when an adjective-noun or noun-noun phrase that is well understood takes on enough of a life in its compound form to be considered it’s own ‘word’, rather than a construct of two words. Like milk bottle vs tetrafluoroethane bottle. The meanings of both are syntactically equivalent. But milk bottle is commonly used enough that it describes a certain thing in people’s minds as a unit. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/30 "2009-07-10T19:15:10Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Those of you trashing M-W, what _is_ your dictionary of choice then? Someone already linked to a list of stupid shit in the _OED_, such as “bouncebackability” (which is _not_ in M-W’s, by the way). [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com)? Yeah there’s a source of scholarly preeminence. At home, I have one heavy mother of a Random House Unabridged Dictionary. I think it dates from nineteen eighty-something. Not only does it have the best obscure words (floccinaucinihilipilification, anyone?) it’s great for lifting weights when you don’t have a barbell on hand. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/31 "2009-07-10T19:29:53Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > This is the year they let spammers choose the words. V1-@-gra (vahy-@h-gruh): noun A pill full of ALL NATURAL HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS that will ROCK your SEX LIFE. GUARANTEED! From the Greek vay@grus meaning “one who adds 3 extra stadia to his member.” _Bill needed some V1@gra for his date this evening and could easily afford the monthly shipments at a low cost of $19.99_ ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/32 "2009-07-10T19:33:51Z")
To answer some of these complaints, dictionaries don’t put in every bit of faddish slang. It has to demonstrate staying power. So “date: 2003” makes sense; the first usage they have is 2003, but it wasn’t recognized as part of the language yet. It also explains why so many of these words make you go, “they just added this now?” I agree \*staycation \*is as stupid as neologisms get. I pledge never to use it except in conversations about the word. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/33 "2009-07-10T20:20:14Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > And what’s with the three a’s in sh[a]warma? Two syllables: Shwar. Muh. Google asks if you [mean _shawarma_](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=shwarma&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g%3As10) when you type in _shwarma_. Your preferred spelling still yields about 127,000 hits, while Merriam-Webster’s returns about 576,000. The **Wikipedia** entry lists [twelve variants](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawarma), with _Shawarma_ chosen as the title of the article. Since the word passed through a language (Arabic) which doesn’t use the Roman alphabet, there probably won’t be a standardized English-language spelling for a while. If anything, a purist should opt for the Turkish _çevirme_, the earliest known form of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517/34 "2009-07-10T20:39:15Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > And what’s with the three a’s in sh[a]warma? Two syllables: Shwar. Muh. The Japanese copula です is usually pronounced something like _des_, but it’s still romanized as _desu_. The city where I live is pronounced something like \*Mwaukee \*or _Muhwaukee_, but it’s still spelled _Milwaukee_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-new-words-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary-in-2009/502517.md?page=1)