Some of the new words that have been added to the dictionary include “finna” and “chile”.
What We Know:
- The latest update to Dictionary.com’s list of words includes 450 brand-new entries, 7,600 updated entries, and 94 new definitions on entries already existing. Most of these definitions focus on race, identity, and the pandemic’s effect on culture.
- John Kelley, the managing editor at Dictionary.com, stated that society is still struggling with racism, and that language is affected by this. Therefore, most of their new words come from African-American Vernacular English. Kelley believes it was important to add BIPOC, Critical Race Theory, and overpolice to the platform because they have been used frequently in the national discourse on social justice.
- To ensure all people are represented respectfully, the website has also chosen to remove the noun slave when referring to people. Kelley says the database will “instead be using the adjective enslaved or referring to the institution of slavery.”
- The forum says that adding more contemporary words to the dictionary will make it easier to have significant conversations on social issues. Researching and understanding these terms will give others the correct linguistic structure to raise awareness.
KTSM 9 News has released a selection of terms from Dictionary.com. These words encapture the importance of becoming more educated to promote racial justice via speech and writing.
