Dear Humans,

A couple weeks ago Merriam-Webster yeeted a whole bunch of new words into their dictionary. Yeet–a verb meaning to throw something recklessly–was among the words added.

You probably know a lot of the just-added words. Because new words often get coined by young people who are trying to figure out the best way to make sense of our shared world and the experience of living in it.

And by the time a word gets put into the dictionary, the cool kids aren’t even saying it any more. Anytime I try to use slang, my daughter says, “It isn’t 2018 anymore.”

So don’t ever underestimate your powers of language. You know how to communicate. It’s what humans do–whether the words are in the dictionary yet or not.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt