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Grammar

‘Dad Bod,’ ‘Amirite’ Among Words Added to the Dictionary

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Last Updated on October 23, 2023

If you’re the type who gets stressed when dictionaries add new words, ‘dad bod’ might be the latest to set you on edge. Amirite?

More than 190 years after Noah Webster published his first dictionary, Merriam-Webster announced a new round of additions. This time, terms like vaccine passport, super-spreader, FTW, TBH, and even dad bod made the cut.

Whether you agree or disagree that all of them should be considered valid words, that’s beside the point. A dictionary doesn’t function as a style manual. It merely helps define words that are in common use so others not familiar with them can better understand what’s being said.

As I’ve pointed out before, you can find irregardless in the dictionary. Irregardless is a nonstandard word. That is a polite way of saying you should not use it. (Grammarly is freaking out with red lines as I type this. It desperately wants me to change irregardless to regardless, which is what everyone who uses the former meant to say.)

The fact that you can find that often-offensive word in a dictionary’s pages shouldn’t be considered permission to run with it.

You have to decide what is and isn’t appropriate in a given situation. Your readers and listeners will decide that as well!

But as we know, when social media is involved, standards often drop.

Here’s a look at some of the new additions the company announced in October.

COVID-19 prompts additions

Merriam-Webster decided to add a new alternate medical meaning for breakthrough. It describes cases of infection in people who got vaccinated against that very disease. Breakthrough infections of COVID-19 made news since the vaccines began rolling out, primarily because so many people would rather rely on conspiracy theories than science.

Yes, you can get a vaccination against something and still catch that illness. That did not begin with COVID-19, but there are some anti-vaxxers who might like you to believe otherwise.

Super-spreader received an expanded definition. It used to refer to a highly-contagious person who could spread an illness to many at once. It now also refers to an event or gathering of large numbers of people where a large number could become infected.

Merriam-Webster also added long COVID, which refers to a series of symptoms that continue long after someone is no longer infected. The Mayo Clinic lists long COVID symptoms that include fatigue, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chest pain; memory, concentration or sleep problems; depression or anxiety; and fever, among others.

Fights over vaccine passports, documents that prove one’s vaccination against COVID-19, gave that term enough credibility to be added. Requiring customers to show proof of their vaccination remains a controversial topic. On the one hand, I get the desire to encourage more to get vaccinated. But I also questioned whether it might create a false sense of security.

Pop culture, abbreviations, social media darlings make the cut

TBH, it took me a while to figure out what FTW meant. Maybe I have a dirty mind, but I didn’t immediately assume that FTW meant “for the win.” I figured it was a more universally-targeting expletive. (In some cases, I might have been right.)

People use FTW on social media “to acknowledge a clever or funny response to a question or meme,” Merriam-Webster says.

TBH stands for “to be honest,” an abbreviation that serves as a crutch in too many chat conversations. Shouldn’t we expect honesty? OK, maybe not. But when you preface what you’re saying with TBH, I’m going to assume that honesty may not be your first motive, amirite?

Yes, amirite also made the cut. Amirite is not new. I complained about this needless word six years ago. You could find it in widespread use even then. That’s why the Urban Dictionary added it to its listings. That makes me wonder how long it takes for the “average” word to be familiar before a dictionary gets around to adding it.

Thanks to technology, we have digital nomads among us. They take working from home to the extreme. They do all of their work online while traveling at the same time. Like the classic definition of a nomad, they often have no permanent address. I do some of my work online, but I prefer having a permanent space to call home.

Those of us who don’t look like Adonis might celebrate the addition of dad bod to the dictionary. A dad bod is a euphemism for a more curvy male physique: a little flab, a lack of muscles. The age at which one reaches a dad bod seems to have dropped as well. It used to be common to describe a slightly out-of-shape guy in his 50s with the term. Then that age threshold dropped to the 40s. These days, I hear 20-somethings joke about their own dad bods.

Here’s one I hate.

Well, I don’t love the word amirite, but you probably figured that. But I noticed one familiar word whose alternate meaning drives me crazy.

Merriam-Webster added because to the dictionary. OK, it added a new meaning for the word because. I’m sure you heard examples of this usage before. Here’s an example Merriam-Webster itself offers:

The process works because science.

Grammarly dislikes this one, too. It wants to add the preposition of between because and science. That would make sense. In fact, it would accomplish the same thing.

But this alternate use of because involves an intentional vagueness that dodges any direct explanation of anything.

Why is a garden so attractive? Because flowers.

What makes that couple so cute? Because young love.

Why does this usage annoy me so much? Because because!


There are plenty more new definitions you’ll find in the Merriam-Webster article. Check it out here.

Which one annoys you the most?

the authorPatrick
Patrick is a Christian with more than 30 years experience in professional writing, producing and marketing. His professional background also includes social media, reporting for broadcast television and the web, directing, videography and photography. He enjoys getting to know people over coffee and spending time with his dog.