MERRIAM-WEBSTER GETS WORDY

NOTE TO SELF: Pick up some agnolotti for supper

Perhaps you or someone you know participated in speed dating recently followed by a date where microgreens were eaten. If Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary is any indication, words like agnolotti (meaning: "pasta in the form of semicircular cases containing a filling (as of meat, cheese, or vegetables") or speed dating ("an event at which each participant converses individually with all the prospective partners for a few minutes in order to select those with whom dates are desired") will become part of our everyday vocabulary.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary updates its Collegiate dictionary every year with "new words, senses and variants." The word "ginormous" (meaning: extremely large, humungous) was one of 100 neolisms or the use of new words or senses of existing words added. Here are twenty out of the list of the 100 mentioned on their site:

1. agnolotti
2. Bollywood
3. chaebol
4. crunk
5. DVR
6. flex-cuff
7. ginormous
8. gray literature
9. hardscape
10. IED
11. microgreen
12. nocebo
13. perfect storm
14. RPG
15. smackdown
16. snowboardcross
17. speed dating
18. sudoku
19. telenovela
20. viewshed

Without going to their site, http://www.merriam-webster.com/info/newwords07.htm how many do you know without having to check on the meaning? A better challenge is how many can you use in one sentence?

Meanwhile, I'm feeling very crunk-ish due to all the microgreens I ate.