Words popularised by Gen Z and Gen Alpha including "skibidi", "delulu", and "tradwife" are among 6,000 new entries to the online edition of the Cambridge Dictionary over the last year, its publisher has said.
The dictionary also took on the challenge of defining skibidi, a word popularised in online memes, as a term which had “different meanings such as cool or bad, or can be used with no real meaning”.
Then is it even a word?
Sometimes I make nearly incomprehensible screeches. They have no meaning, but something they express how I feel, is that a word?
I make nearly incomprehensible screeches … is that a word
No (or at least it depends on your definition of a word). For being added to the Cambridge dictionary, it is not in general or widespread usage. Your random screech is not historically or socially worthy of being documented. It likely has no suitable examples for coinage. You screech has no linguistic staying power, it wont be used by you and others in a few years time.
English does not have an academy. It does not have a rulebook that defines exactly what it is. Unlike languages like French (as an example … with all of the social linguistics that comes with that). The dictionary is a record of how the language is being used by a notable proportion of the population.
Skibidi is one of 6000 words being added, this year alone.
tradwife is a shortform, it’s not a word
There are lots of shortform, abbreviations and colloquialisms in the dictionary. If they are individually used/cited as words on their own basis then they can be listed in the dictionary.
Then is it even a word?
Sometimes I make nearly incomprehensible screeches. They have no meaning, but something they express how I feel, is that a word?
Also tradwife is a shortform, it’s not a word.
No (or at least it depends on your definition of a word). For being added to the Cambridge dictionary, it is not in general or widespread usage. Your random screech is not historically or socially worthy of being documented. It likely has no suitable examples for coinage. You screech has no linguistic staying power, it wont be used by you and others in a few years time.
English does not have an academy. It does not have a rulebook that defines exactly what it is. Unlike languages like French (as an example … with all of the social linguistics that comes with that). The dictionary is a record of how the language is being used by a notable proportion of the population.
Skibidi is one of 6000 words being added, this year alone.
There are lots of shortform, abbreviations and colloquialisms in the dictionary. If they are individually used/cited as words on their own basis then they can be listed in the dictionary.
Skint is also a short form. It’s been in the dictionary a while.
Hasn’t skint been around for a century? It’s not quite a short form though, it’s a variant of skinned, and almost the same length.