George Orwell envisioned a world in his book “1984” where a nightmarish government destroys words in order to control its citizens, and prevent them from intelligent thought. Merriam-Webster’s unabridged dictionary has gone in the other direction, it seems, by adding words constantly to its reference guide that make people sound ridiculous when they say them. Like WTF and NSFW.
WTF indeed.
According to CNN, Merriam-Webster has added about 1,700 words to its dictionary. Words like emoji, net neutrality, clickbait, click fraud and photobomb are now in the dictionary, giving credence to old people’s paranoia that the younger generations are destroying all that is good in this world. According to CNN, “the new entries speak to what’s current in the English language today, touching on technology, food, the worldwide food supply and the sharing economy.” Like, whatever CNN.
So, now when your parents ask you what an emoji is, or what WTF means, now you can tell them to google it, because google is now a transitive verb. On the plus side, you can now probably use these ridiculous words in a Scrabble game.
The JOE-DOWN 
Joe, settle down. “The dictionary” is not officiating what is good or proper. It is merely cataloging new words as they come into the language. English will not and cannot be harmed by this. It’s a process that people like you have been wringing their hands over *literally* forever. Take a deep breath.
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Sure, go ahead, laugh if you want to. I’ve seen your type before: Flashy, making the scene, flaunting convention. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. What’s this guy making such a big stink about old dictionaries? Look. If you think this is about silly words, you’d better think again. This is about that kid’s right to read a dictionary without getting his mind warped. Or maybe that turns you on, Sewall; maybe that’s how y’get your kicks. You and your good-time buddies. Well I got a flash for ya, joy-boy: Party time is over.
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