F-Bomb Makes It Into Dictionary

Sexting, flexitarian also among Merriam-Webster newbies
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 13, 2012 11:31 PM CDT
Updated Aug 14, 2012 2:00 AM CDT
F-Bomb Makes It Into Dictionary
The entry "man cave" is one of about a hundred additions in the 11th edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

F-bomb and sexting are real words now, at least in the eyes of the editors at Merriam-Webster. The terms are among 100 or so additions in the 114-year-old dictionary's annual update, along with man cave, energy drink, shovel-ready, game changer, and "flexitarian," which refers to a mostly-vegetarian who sometimes eats a bit of meat or fish, AP reports. Many of the new additions have been used for quite a while. The first mention in print of F-bomb found by the company's world sleuths was in a 1988 Newsday story, though usage took off after Dick Cheney and Joe Biden's F-bombs in 2004 and 2010.

"Aha moment," popularized by Oprah, has been around since the 1930s, and finally made it into the dictionary this year. "This is a list of really descriptive and evocative, fun words. Some years, not so fun," says a Merriam-Webster editor. "Some years it's a lot of science words. Some years it's a lot of words around really heavy topics." The not-so-fun words this year include "systemic risk," and new recession-related meanings for "underwater" and "toxic." Click for more new words, which include craft beer. (More words stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X