Dictionary.com, one of the Internet's largest online dictionaries, has added over 100 new words to its library. The word additions demonstrate the growing impact of the Internet, technology and social media in terms of language and use of words in popular culture.
The best example of a word recently born out of social media has to be "fleek," which is generally preceded by "on" to create the now popular slang term known as "on fleek." The phrase emanated from a six-second Vine video posted by Peaches Monroee, otherwise known IRL ("In real life," another new addition to Dictionary.com's list of words and phrases) as Kayla Newman. The 17-year-old, excited after having her eyebrows done for the first time, made the now famous statement, "We in this b----, gonna get crunk. Eyebrows on fleek, da f--."
Kayla says the word just came to her, that it was something she never heard before, and she is widely credited with its creation. After her Vine went viral, pop star Ariana Grande did a lighthearted spoof of the video, which introduced the term to even more viewers, who in turn started referencing the hashtag #onfleek as a substitute for "on point," especially when referencing physical appearance.
In fact, even though Dictionary.com's official definition reads "flawlessly styled, groomed, etc.," the usage of the term now actually goes beyond describing a person's personal appearance and extends to anything from the quality of a performance to a person's general state of mind.
One questionable tech-influenced entry on the new list is "drunk text." The term seems to be self-explanatory, but for those who may be too inebriated to understand even the simplest juxtaposition of words, Dictionary.com comes to the rescue with its definition of "to send a text message to someone while intoxicated."
The service acknowledges the growing influence of social media and technology on language when introducing the new set of definitions, explaining that: "New additions such as feels, yaaas, and doge highlight the role of social media in transmitting and popularizing new terms, while fitness tracker, digital wallet, and Internet of Things demonstrate the new ways that technological innovation is changing the way we live and speak."
