I was so hangry when we met at the Cat Café to celebrate our friendiversary with some superfoods that I hoped my man bun would distract from my dad bod and bitchface.
Notice anything about that sentence? It represents the evolution of the English language.
The good folks over at Dictionary.com announced this week that some 300 words had been officially added to the lexicon. “English is constantly changing and growing. Thanks to the diverse people who speak it and the times they (we) live in, new words enter the language all the time. The dictionary’s job is to reflect and celebrate that evolution,” says the team.
As a part of that celebration of language, hangry, cat café, friendiversary, superfood, man bun, dad bod, and bitchface all made the cut.
Notable additions to the dictionary include:
Alt-right
Pronounced: [awlt-rahyt]
Defined as:
A political movement originating on social media and online forums, composed of a segment of conservatives who support extreme right-wing ideologies, including white nationalism and anti-Semitism.
Bitchface
Pronounced: [bich-feys]
Defined as:
A facial expression that does not consciously express a particular emotion but that others perceive as scowling, threatening, etc.
Burkini
Pronounced: [boor-kee-nee, bur‐]
Defined as:
The proprietary name of a type of bathing suit covering the torso, limbs, and head, worn by women or girls who want to keep their bodies completely covered, especially for religious reasons.
Friendiversary
Pronounced: [fren-duh-vur-suh-ree]
Defined as:
The yearly recurrence of the date that two or more people first became friends.
Cat café
Pronounced: [kat ka-fey, kuh-fey]
Defined as:
A business establishment that has numerous cats available for customers to play with, and usually offers food and drinks.
Struggle bus
Pronounced: [Struh-gul-bus]
Defined as:
A situation, task, etc., that seems difficult or frustrating.
Man bun
Pronounced: [man-buhn]
Defined as:
A man’s hair gathered into a bun at the back or top of the head.
Mic drop
Pronounced: [mahyk drop]
Defined as:
The act of intentionally dropping one’s microphone at the end of a speech or performance, displaying a bold confidence that it has been very impressive or cannot be topped.
Throw shade
Pronounced: [throw-sheyd]
Defined as:
To insult, criticize, or disrespect a person or thing in an indirect, artful manner.
Black lives matter, clicktivist, and sext were also among the most recent additions to the language.
Interestingly, the team also just introduced the word ‘lightsaber’ to their dictionary. ‘Man bun’ gets in after being a hipster trend for a couple of years, but the Jedi weapon for saving the galaxy takes four decades to make the cut? C’mon.
Anyway, you can read the full list over on the pages of Dictionary.com.