A gibberish word, a gender-regressive label and the shorthand for delusional thinking have all been added to the Cambridge English Dictionary this year, speaking volumes about the current social media-driven culture.
Among the more than 6,000 words added to the dictionary over the last year were “skibidi,” “tradwife” and “delulu.” Those three terms started as online slang before creeping into mainstream use offline with such force that they have been deemed by linguists to have “staying power,” according to a statement from Cambridge University Press, which publishes the dictionary.
The additions fit within a growing tendency for dictionaries and the academic world of lexicology to embrace the way that the internet shapes — and is shaped by — broader culture and language.
Last year, Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year was a modern interpretation of the term “manifest” while Oxford Dictionary chose “brain rot.”
That these words have jumped from social media to daily conversation and that their definitions are often implicitly understood even before they have been added to the dictionary is an indication that language is “a proxy for broader cultural changes,” said Adam Aleksic, a linguist who posts as “Eytmology Nerd” on social media and the author of “Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language.”
“At the core of skibidi, tradwife and delulu, I see natural human tendencies to be funny, conservative or delusional,” he added, “all a reflection of our own humanity.”
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post How ‘Skibidi’ and ‘Tradwife’ Were Added to the Cambridge Dictionary appeared first on New York Times.
