Every year, new words are added to the dictionary
Those that have fallen out of use are removed. Every major dictionary does it, including the American Heritage, the Oxford online, and Merriam-Webster. It’s fascinating when you think about it. It’s especially useful if you’re a foodie to see which foods have become ubiquitous over the past year.
When Are New Foodie Words Considered?
Just because you use a word every day, that doesn’t earn it a spot in the dictionary. Editors look for words that are used across industries, menus, and forums. They check television shows and popular websites. Dictionary editors are looking for words that cross genres and boundaries.
Foodie words need to transcend different types of restaurants and cuisines to be considered. That doesn’t mean that Latin American words don’t make it. After all, when a food or a preparation method really starts to take off, you’ll find it everywhere. You’ll find Mexican inspired sandwiches at Subway and Chinese soups at any number of chains. When that happens, a foodie word is considered for the latest edition of the dictionary. Hence, we love our foodie dictionary.
New Chili Word Added to Merriam-Webster in 2014
Many of the new words added in 2014 were, unsurprisingly, related to social media and related methods of marketing, meeting, and communicating. In fact, there were not all that many foodie words added in the past year. New trends are on the horizon though, so you can expect more in 2015 as people begin to think about their food in new ways.
Only one chili foodie word made it to the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster dictionary (and no chili words hit Oxford or the American Heritage dictionaries). While we think that may be a little sad, we’re sure the Aji, a Latin American pepper, deserved it. Feel free to use the word with pride, and go out to get yourself a few to try. They’re a mild pepper, with a Scoville ranking between 30,000 and 50,000, so can enjoy it without taking too many precautions.
We Also Want to Congratulate These Foodie Words
Sure, there was only one chili added to one dictionary, but we’re foodies as well as chili heads, so we won’t let it get us down. We’re happy to give a shout out to Bahn Mi, which is a Vietnamese sandwich of meat and pickled veggies served on a baguette. Bahn Mi was added to the American Heritage dictionary which also added the word pregame to its ranks. While its direct meaning involves heavy drinking, we’re certain that foodies will most appreciate the snacks that go with any game day festivities.
There are also a few words that we cannot believe only just made it to the dictionary in 2014. After all, any serious foodie has been using this lingo for years. A few of these words include Halloumi (American Heritage), Queso (Oxford Online), and Brat (Merriam-Webster). If you don’t know what these are, then you’ll have a hard time calling yourself a foodie. But, there’s nothing wrong with that; some of our favorite chili heads are more concerned with fire than with flavor. Many chili heads and foodies prefer to fly under the mainstream radar, which means it could be a while before some of our words become ubiquitous.