The master lexicographers at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary have recently released a list of new (or fairly newish) slang terms. Slang is the fastest changing and most ephemeral part of the English language—so these terms are likely to be hot for a few months, and then slowly fade away to nothing. But some of them can be fun while they’re here (even if us wiser heads never use them!). Here is part of their list:
Ate (and left no crumbs)—means someone had done a job perfectly, or at least so well it couldn’t be improved on. As in “The press agent got such good coverage that she clearly ate and left not crumbs.” Sometimes shortened to just ‘ate.’ Said to have originated in the New York Ballroom scene (whatever that is!) in the 2010s.
Aura farming—means the art of trying very hard to look cool and stylish. This means working on (‘farming’) your image (your ‘aura’).
Baddie—we used to think this meant the villains in the movies, well, not anymore: ‘baddie’ now means someone (usually, apparently, a woman) who is stylish and attractive. It seems to come from a time in the later 2010s when ‘bad’ was being used to mean ‘good’ (a locution generally thought to have been either generated or made popular by Michael Jackson).
Based—is being used to mean someone who doesn’t care about other people’s opinions. So it is, I suppose, a rough equivalent of self-confidence. Perhaps it comes from the notion of someone have a strong ‘base’ of self-confidence.
Bed rotting—means staying in bed all day. (For someone who is well but just lazy this is a horrible notion!) It seems to have been around only since 2025.
Bet—is now being used to mean ‘sure’ or ‘definitely.’ As in ‘As the economy slows down the rich just get richer, right? Ok, bet.’ This one began in Black American slang in the 1980s as an abbreviation of ‘I bet you!’ (So it’s related to the old gambling notion.)
Bloatware—is used as a critical label to describe unwanted pre-installed computer software. The older meaning of ‘bloated’ is ‘swollen’ so I guess that was employed in coining this one (which happened in the early 1990s). Clearly it’s a variation on the old expression ‘software’ meaning computer progrms. It’s yet another example of tech driving our language (not always in good directions!)
More bits of new slang tomorrow.
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BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
