The English language never stops expanding, and neither does the dictionary. This past week, the editors at Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary added more than 600 new words, among them, a handful of food-related terms that are sure to come up in your food-loving life. In order for new words to make the cut, editors must find that a word is in frequent, widespread and meaningful use — all three of these factors must be in play. Several new words don’t seem new at all. Words you’ve been using for years, like “ghost pepper,” “java,” and “chai latte,” will have you wondering how they’re not already in official status. But that goes to show you that widespread usage is extremely important. “Umami” is another word — as in, one of the five tastes that humans register, along with salty, sweet, spicy and sour — that was elevated to official word status. The word…
Merriam-Webster adds ‘umami,’ ‘ghost pepper,’ ‘go-cup’ and more to dictionary
