A Nepo Baby Took a Coffee Nap After Eating a Shower Orange

No idea what that means? You need to brush up on this year's new entries to Dictionary.com
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 9, 2023 8:30 AM CDT
Don't Know What a 'Coffee Nap' Is? We've Got You
Coffee nap, anyone?   (Getty Images/BrianAJackson)

You've surely heard of "sextortion," but "paraprosdokian" may have you scratching your head. Luckily, both words now have full-fledged entries at Dictionary.com, which is out with its annual list of additions and updates. There are nearly 570 completely new entries, as well as almost 350 new definitions and more than 2,500 revised definitions, in categories including pop culture, artificial intelligence, climate, and health and wellness. Lit Hub notes that one big change throughout Dictionary.com is the removal of binary-gendered phrases, such as "his or her" and "he or she." Instead, those terms have been replaced by "they," "them," or similar words. "Using 'they' is not only good grammar and fits neatly into what English allows, but it also fits neatly into accepting and embracing the way more people see themselves," Grant Barrett, Dictionary.com's head of lexicography, tells Mashable. Here, 10 words that have ascended onto Dictionary.com's pages—some familiar, others not so much:

  • nepo baby: a celebrity with a parent who's also famous, especially one whose industry connections are perceived as essential to their success.
  • shower orange: an orange that's peeled and eaten under a steamy shower, the purported benefit being that the steam enhances the orange's citrusy fragrance and creates a soothing experience for the person who's showering.
  • coffee nap: a short nap, usually 15-30 minutes, taken immediately after drinking a cup of coffee, the claimed benefit being that the energizing effect of caffeine may be bolstered by a sleeping body's drop in adenosine levels.
  • Big Pharma: pharmaceutical companies considered collectively, especially with reference to their political and commercial influence.
  • chatbot: a computer program designed to respond with conversational or informational replies to verbal or written messages from users.
  • stress eating: emotional eating, especially in response to stress, tension, or anxiety.
  • polysexual: noting or relating to a person who is sexually attracted to people of various genders, but not necessarily to people of all genders.
  • atmospheric river: a long, narrow corridor in the atmosphere that transports massive amounts of concentrated water vapor from the tropics.
  • bloatware: unwanted software that is preinstalled on a newly bought device, especially when it negatively impacts the device's performance.
  • mountweazel: a decoy entry in a reference work, such as a dictionary or encyclopedia, secretly planted among the genuine entries to catch other publishers in the act of copying content.
More of Dictionary.com's new or updated entries here. (More Dictionary.com stories.)

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