Food loving Scrabble players, your time has come.
Merriam-Webster just added over 200 words to its dictionary, and several of them are common American food terms.
“Our lexicographers monitor a huge range of sources to select which words and definitions to add,” says Peter Sokolowski, Editor at Large for Merriam-Webster. “From academic journals to social media, these give us a very thorough view of the English language.” Every addition has demonstrated widespread use over time, and offer a window into the world today.
Food terms included in the 2024 edition of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary include specific foods, food trends, and nutritional terms.
Street corn has been added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary
In addition to street corn (noun, grilled corn on the cob that is coated with a creamy spread), additional nouns include burrata (mozzarella formed into a ball-shaped casing that contains curds and cream); and capicola (a seasoned Italian pork that is cut from the neck and top shoulder).
Ultra-processed has been added as an adjective to describe food “containing or made primarily with highly processed ingredients including artificial additives (such as coloring, flavoring, and preservatives) and typically having high levels of fat, sugar, or salt.”
Beer fiends can can enjoy the official definition of the International Bitterness Unit, “used to assess the concentration of a bitter compound found in hops in order to provide information about how bitter a beer is.”
“The one constant of a vibrant living language is change,” explains Gregory Barlow, President of Merriam-Webster. “We continuously encounter new ways of describing the world around us, and the dictionary is a record of those changes.”
In 2023, cheffy and chef’s kiss (a gesture of satisfaction or approval made by kissing the fingertips of one hand and then spreading the fingers with an outward motion — often used interjectionally) were officially added to the dictionary, as well as more professional restaurant terms including stagiaire and stage. Jollof rice and smashburger were the two dish-specific terms added.
Naturally, plenty of Gen Z slang and social media terminology also joins the English language in the dictionary this year.
Nepo baby, “a person who gains success or opportunities through familial connections,” cash grab, creepy-crawly, shadow ban and touch grass, “to participate in normal activities in the real world especially as opposed to online experiences and interactions,” and For You page (or FYP), “a social media feed that contains personalized content based on the user’s interest” are all now official.