New Webster's edition reflects increasing interest in medicine

After last week's release of the Oxford English Dictionary's latest edition its American pendant is now also available in an updated version. The fourth edition in the 2005 copyright version of Webster's New World College Dictionary includes nearly 90 new words and expressions.

The yearly copyrighted update includes terms that heretofore might have fallen into categories of techno-jargon and street talk, ranging from "identity theft" to "street cred". Mike Agnes, editor-in-chief of Webster's New World explains the process of adding new entries to the dictionary: "Nearly 1,500 hopefuls are added to a computer database each month after appearing in magazines, newspapers, television and radio. An editorial committee then debates which entries have become most firmly established in the language."

Interestingly, this new copyright indicates that medicine has become a topic of interest for everyday Americans. Medical terms now produce more new entries than the computer-related or technological terms. Among the newcomers are "omega-3", "Botox", "HTR", "irritable bowel syndrome" and "Xanax". "Google" has not yet made it into the dictionary, however, Agnes predicts that it will be among the runners-up for the 2006 update.

Source: The Book Standard