In this May 15, 2014 photo, "Yooper," one of the 150 new words appearing in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and the company's free online database appears on page 1454 of the printed edition of the dictionary in New York. The term refers to native or longtime residents of the Michigan's Lake Superior region known for a distinctive manner of speaking and its Scandinavian roots. Many of the other new words and terms stem from digital life and social media; spoiler alert; hashtag; selfie and tweep, while others are food driven, including pho and turducken, a boneless chicken stuffed with a boneless duck stuffed with a boneless turkey. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Top 15 words and definitions added to the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary:
Auto-Tune or auto-tune vt (verb transitive) (2003): a proprietary signal processor, to adjust or alter (a recording of a voice) with Auto-Tune software or other audio-editing software, especially to correct sung notes that are out of tune
cap-and-trade adj (1995): relating to or being a system that caps the amount of carbon emissions a given company may produce but allows it to buy rights to produce additional emissions from a company that does not use the equivalent amount of its own allowance
catfish n (1612): (second definition) a person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes
crowdfunding n (2006): the practice of soliciting financial contributions from a large number of people, especially from the online community
dubstep n (2002): a type of electronic dance music having prominent bass lines and syncopated drum patterns
fangirl n (1934): a girl or woman who is an extremely or overly enthusiastic fan of someone or something
freegan n (2006): an activist who scavenges for free food (as in waste receptacles at stores and restaurants) as a means of reducing consumption of resources
gamification n (2010): the process of adding games or gameline elements to something (as a task) so as to encourage participation
hashtag n (2008): a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text, such as a tweet
selfie n (2002): an image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera, especially for posting on social networks
social networking n (1998): the creation and maintenance of personal and business relationships, especially online
steampunk n (1987) science fiction dealing with 19th-century societies dominated by historical or imagined steam-powered technology
turducken n (1982): a boneless chicken stuffed into a boneless duck stuffed into a boneless turkey
tweep n (2008): a person who uses the Twitter online message service to send and receive tweets
Yooper n (1977): a native or resident of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan—used as a nickname
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