Merriam-Webster Dictionary Inducts ‘Selfie’, ‘Hashtag’

America's best-selling dictionary Merriam-Webster has updated itself to the modern slang by adding over 150 new words, including ‘selfie’, ‘hashtag’ and ‘tweep’.

"So many of these new words show the impact of online connectivity to our lives and livelihoods," said Peter Sokolowski, editor-at-large for Merriam-Webster.

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"Tweep, selfie, and hashtag refer to the ways we communicate and share as individuals," he added.

Originally a social media buzzword, "selfie" was admitted to the online version of the Oxford English dictionary in 2013, which named it word of the year.

Merriam-Webster defined "selfie" as "an image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera especially for posting on social networks."

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"Crowdfunding," "big data" and "gamification," were also added, showing "how technology is being used to understand and motivate behavior," the dictionary said.

Another newbie was "catfish," defined as a person who sets up a false social networking profile for deceptive purposes.

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Source-AFP