How fast can a word get into the dictionary? Stefan Fatsis's book "Unabridged" has the answer: Merriam-Webster went from the WHO's first announcement of "COVID" to publishing the definition in 34 days.
Historically, it takes years for a word to"marinate" and prove its worth. But COVID was different — hundreds of thousands of people were searching for the definition.
Listen now: https://pod.link/173429229
#GrammarGirl #podcast
Mignon Fogarty
npub13t…jzjt2
2025-12-12 19:14:04 UTC
Author Public Key
npub13trmkn500hemgw020065a5ule4hdd9p2cazty0twkrecwy8t3kqqljzjt2Seen on
wss://relay.momostr.pinkPublished at
2025-12-12 19:14:04 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "6153021acc5e88e0362b902c1ee5e31fcd79ce956e668e1020a22d01fcec3f3f",
"pubkey": "8ac7bb4e8f7df3b439ea7bf54ed39fcd6ed6942ac744b23d6eb0f38710eb8d80",
"created_at": 1765566844,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"proxy",
"https://zirk.us/@grammargirl/115708188753662269",
"web"
],
[
"t",
"grammargirl"
],
[
"t",
"podcast"
],
[
"proxy",
"https://zirk.us/users/grammargirl/statuses/115708188753662269",
"activitypub"
],
[
"L",
"pink.momostr"
],
[
"l",
"pink.momostr.activitypub:https://zirk.us/users/grammargirl/statuses/115708188753662269",
"pink.momostr"
],
[
"-"
]
],
"content": "How fast can a word get into the dictionary? Stefan Fatsis's book \"Unabridged\" has the answer: Merriam-Webster went from the WHO's first announcement of \"COVID\" to publishing the definition in 34 days.\n\nHistorically, it takes years for a word to\"marinate\" and prove its worth. But COVID was different — hundreds of thousands of people were searching for the definition.\n\n Listen now: https://pod.link/173429229\n\n#GrammarGirl #podcast",
"sig": "14bb8fdd8a73ceb0c3d517cb1f35ed164986d164b54b0eb6e444b59a19d3fd3de362cdeed85e899e32a5501e08c55b599e4fcc0cb3ad3ba53c0054f28d08dfe6"
}