Merriam-Webster Adds Words to Dictionary

The latest edition of the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary has many new words, which reflect the times. Here are some of the top new words and definitions added:

• cap-and-trade adj (1995): relating to or being a system that caps the amount of carbon emissions a given company may produce but allows it to buy rights to produce additional emissions from a company that does not use the equivalent amount of its own allowance
• catfish n (1612): a person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes
• freegan n (2006): an activist who scavenges for free food (as in waste receptacles at stores and restaurants) as a means of reducing consumption of resources
• hashtag n (2008): a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text, such as a tweet
• selfie n (2002): an image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera.

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the May 20th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.