Sunday, March 11, 2012

"Tweet," "Crowdsourcing," "Bromance" and Other Words-of-the-Moment Come to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary

I'm updating my copy of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Word 2003 as we speak.

It's official: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has added �tweet,� �crowdsourcing,� �social media,� �m-commerce,� �bromance,� �cougar,� �fist pump,� and �helicopter parent� (my favorite) to its long list of real (and questionable) words.

The first one has an obvious definition and already appears in most dictionaries with its original meaning. For those of you who don't know what crowdsourcing means, please visit Benzinga's Startups page more often.

�M-commerce� actually surprised me, as I had not heard that one before. It is essentially the mobile version of �e-commerce� and is officially defined as a �business transaction conducted using a mobile electronic device.�

�Bromance� grew in popularity after �I Love You, Man� was released in theaters. It is, according to Hollywood (and now Merriam-Webster), �a close nonsexual friendship between men.�

�Cougar,� of course, is a nice way of saying MILF. It can also apply to older (but attractive) women who don't have children.

�Fist pump� is self-explanatory.

Finally we have �helicopter parent,� which is a wonderful term describing a parent who is too involved in his or her child's life (in other words, the parent won't stop hovering over the child).

Via: TechCrunch

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