Freshman Words, Ready for Hazing

Here's a sample of the words and phrases added to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, which will be released in the fall. Sadly, "mouse potato" is one of them. Even more sadly, seeing as how it defines someone who spends a lot of time using a computer, I am one of them.

The words are divided into categories, and under The Human Condition, we find two additions: "drama queen" and "unibrow." These are not good times for the human condition.

Under the ever-popular Miscellaneous, we find "polyamory" (which I think translates, roughly, into "lots of getting it on") and "sandwich generation" ("generation of people who are caring for their aging parents while supporting their own children"). I was thinking that last term had something to do with the proliferation of Subway and Quizno's franchises, but there's always time to add a definition, I suppose.

If you think this year's words are strange or unworthy, think of what people must have thought about these terms added in 1806. They must have asked, "Publicity? What the hell is publicity?" Oh, to live in those innocent days.

(Via Pop Candy)