(SOUNDBITE OF BILLIE EILISH SONG, "EVERYTHING I WANTED")
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
One of the most popular dictionaries is getting an overhaul, adding some 5,000 new words. The 12th edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary will include stuff the kids say, like rizz, dad bod and doomscroll. The Collegiate Dictionary was first published in 1898, created for college students and professionals. It's where they can look up foreign words and geographical names, like Washington and Waikiki. The latest version has added beast mode and hard pass.
Other words in the new Collegiate Dictionary will include teraflop, which is a unit of measure for calculating the speed of a computer. Another is dumb phones. Those are, of course, what we all used before smartphones. We just didn't know they were dumb back then. The dictionary also includes the history of some words, like calculate. It comes from the Latin word for pebble because that's what the ancient Romans used to do math.
Dictionary sales have plummeted in recent years since people now go to the internet for word searches. But Greg Barlow, the president of Merriam-Webster, says some people still like to have a hard-copy version - their way, he said, to preserve culture and history. The new Collegiate Dictionary will be released on November 18, and at five pounds, lifting it in beast mode could help you address that dad bod.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EVERYTHING I WANTED")
BILLIE EILISH: (Singing) If I could change the way that you see yourself. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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