New words

[yukionna]

For you word lovers out there, Merriam-Webster is publishing a new dictionary this year with lots of new words. The yearly list of new words gives meaning to the latest lingo in pop culture, technology and current events. Perhaps someday "aluminitis" will be added to the dictionary!

Here is a list of some of the new words...

• ginormous: an adjective that combines "gigantic" and "enormous"
• Bollywood: Inida's motion-picture industry
• sudoku: number puzzles
• speed dating: trendy new way to meet people
• crunk: a style of Southern rap music
• DVR: abbreviation for digital video recorder
• IED: shorthand for the improvised explosive devices that have become common in the war in Iraq
• smackdowns: contests in entertainment wrestling
• telenovelas: Latin-American soap operas
• gray literature: hard-to-get written material
• microgreen: a shoot of a standard salad plant

[bigeasy63]

Great news! I can finally tell my boss "crunk" is in the dictionary! Although I use it in a diffrent context than southern rap. ...crank, cranked, crunk..."I went out and crunk the car"

So...now I'm correct when I say "I put the smackdown on a ginormous crunk rapper!

[yukionna]

I was surprised to see "ginormous" on the list but it qualified because it was deemed a mainstream America word now. "Mainstream America" is defined as something that is seen or heard frequently in print and TV.

[bigeasy63]

I've heard them all but gray literature. I've heard of gray water and gray matter but not gray lit.
That should be mainstream urban america. Where I'm from you could still get beat up for saying ginormous.