Dictionary.com recently unveiled its Summer Word Drop of new words that have been added to the online dictionary. And the new entries included three medical terms, five climate change and warm weather-related terms and two, shall we say, meat-headed terms. Also added was the term “hot rodent man,” which has nothing to do with the weather and is not a medical condition that involves growing whiskers and a tail.
These additions were based on “Dictionary.com’s lexicographers continuing to monitor usage of words in the media, on social media, on the Internet, and in other sources,” explained Steve Johnson, Curriculum Design Manager of the Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning. “They pretty much see the trends that are happening in the real world.”
For example, if you haven’t noticed, the past two Summers have been pretty darn hot, including the hottest days on record ever. In fact, NASA recently described the Summer of 2024 as the hottest to date. That’s hottest temperature-wise and not sexy-wise. This past June, July and August had global temperatures that were around 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.1 degrees Celsius higher than any such three-month period recorded previously by NASA. And this edged out the previous record, which guess what, was set in 2023. “As the weather becomes warmer, we see a relationship with what’s being discussed,” related Johnson.
Therefore, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Dictionary.com staff found people talking about cooling centers and ambient temperatures, two new additions to their dictionary. Dictionary.com defined a “cooling center,” also called a cooling station, as “an air-conditioned or otherwise cooled facility, such as a school, library, or mall, that is open to the public during a period of hot weather in order to provide relief from the heat.” The dictionary entry also gives the example, “The Department of Health can assist in arranging transportation to a local cooling center.” Meanwhile, “ambient temperature” means “the temperature of the air at a given time and in a particular place or circumstance.”
If you are wondering why it’s been getting hotter and hotter recently, you see there’s this thing called climate change that some people are still claiming doesn’t really exist. And there’s an abundance of scientific evidence that all the pollution that humans keep pumping into the environment has been contributing to climate change. Therefore, it’s not surprising that three carbon emission-reduction terms “gross zero”, “net zero” and “zero carbon” have made it to the dictionary. There was one other hot term, “hot money,” that had a revised Dicitonary.com definition that has nothing to do with the weather. That’s unless you think the hot money is on political and business leaders not doing much about climate change.
Yeah, not doing anything about climate change won’t prevent those in the know from giving the whale eye to what’s happening. “Whale eye” incidentally is another new addition to the dictionary and means, “the act of showing the whites of the eyes to indicate fear or anxiety.” No amount of dopamine dressing is going to make legitimate concerns about climate change go away. (”Dopamine dressing” by the way was yet another new dictionary entry that means “the practice of elevating one’s mood by wearing clothing, often featuring bright colors or lively patterns, that one enjoys wearing.”)
What else has been on people’s minds? Well, how about the following three brain-related terms that have been newly added to the dictionary:
- chemo brain (noun): “a common side effect of some cancer treatments that is characterized by cognitive impairments, such as memory and recall difficulties, confusion, difficulty concentrating or loss of mental alertness”
- traumatic brain injury (noun): “damage to the brain from a source outside the body, such as an object that strikes the head violently or penetrates the skull, which causes symptoms ranging from headache and dizziness to permanent physical or mental disability”
- premenstrual dysphoric disorder (noun): “a form of premenstrual syndrome in which symptoms are so severe as to be disabling and require treatment”
“This reflected a rising awareness of these recognized conditions,” Johnson said. For example, you may have seen traumatic brain injuries or TBIs discussed in the context of football injuries. I recently covered how Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered such an injury against the Buffalo Bills. “There’s been a lot of increased discussion in terms of physical and mental ailments in general,” Johnson added.
The two new terms that were meat-headed in different ways were “cultivated meat” and “dudebro.” Cultivated meat is “another term for cultured meat.” The dictonary.com definition for “dudebro” is that of a decidedly uncultured person: “A young, usually white male who is perceived as obnoxiously entitled and often prejudiced or narrow-minded.”
Finally, there were two more hot new additions that had nothing to do with the weather. One was “hot rodent man,” which is defined as “a quirky, unconventionally handsome man (often a celebrity), likened to a physically attractive cartoon rat or mouse, and praised for traits such as intelligence and sensitivity.” Then there was “babygirl,” which, oh baby, refers to, “A man as being desirable because he is sensitive, cute, or emotional.”
The next big word drop for Dictionary.com will come this coming Winter. This Winter will also be when the Dictionary.com will announce its 2023 Word of the Year. I asked Johnson what are the chances that “hot rodent man” will win this title. He responded that you never know.
