"Gastric banding" and "athleisure" made it to the list of 2,000 new words and senses added in the Merriam-Webster's "unabridged" dictionary version last week.
"Gastric banding" is a "laparoscopic surgical procedure" that is used to treat advanced obesity cases. This procedure involves surgically placing a flexible band in the upper stomach. This creates a small pouch with a narrow outlet at the bottom which empties into the remaining stomach.
"Athleisure" refers to the casual clothing that was designed for both general use and exercising. In the fashion industry, 2014 was the year of athleisure.
In recent years, working out has become so fashionable that clothing brands needed to up the ante and create gym clothes that are sturdy enough to withstand a workout routine but trendy enough to be seen in.
"The new entries and senses offer a kind of snapshot of how exactly our language expands. It doesn't happen quickly - we monitored many of these words for years before they'd met our criteria for entry - and it's pushed by various fields and endeavors," wrote associate editor Emily Brewster on the Merriam-Webster Unabridged blog. Brewster is an Ask The Editor contributor.
The list of 2,000 new words includes a whole list of internet and technology culture slangs and terminologies. For instance, "dox," which is a slang term used to describe the act of publicly identifying and publishing private information about a person as a form of retribution, was recently added.
"Bitcoin," a digital currency that was created for peer-to-peer transactions online, made it to the list as well as "nomophobia," which describes the fear of not having access to a working mobile phone.
One of the best new additions perhaps is "revenge porn," a term that describes images of a person - which are sexually explicit - that have been posted or uploaded online without that person's knowledge. Revenge porn is often used as a form of harassment or retaliation.
The words and senses were added just in time as there is "hella" news about "wacky tobacky" that we don't want you to suffer from "FOMO." Yes, these three words also made it to the list.
Photo: Kate Ter Haar | Flickr
