The editors of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary have added about 100 words for the 2009 edition and to the dictionary online.

Amid all the hoopla over the Tar Heels' national basketball championship, a reader calls our attention to the difference between celebrant and celebrator.

Those who report the news often apply labels to terrible or urgent events: tragedy, disaster, crisis, emergency. Sometimes, those labels don't quite fit. We risk overstating the trouble.

A headline from today's newspaper, "U.S. drops 'enemy combatant' label; detainees remain," made me curious about the suffixes in "combatant" and "detainee." The meanings of the suffixes play essential roles in the meanings of the words created.

New words pop up all the time. They are a window into our culture and our times.

The words and phrases of an economic downturn fill our newspaper and Web site these days. One such phrase prompted a reader to write that we were "butchering" the language.

The American Dialect Society chose bailout as the word of the year for 2008. Here is the news release from the society. Among the other nominees: shovel-ready and game-changer. The trend started by references to "Joe the plumber" caught on like wildfire. Just call me Pam the Copy Editor. I like thought showers, a term coined to avoid using brainstorming. I can't wait to hear someone in my workplace say, "Hey, I need some ideas. Let's have a thought shower session on this problem."

The news release also gives the words from past years. Remember pajamahadeen from 2004? I didn't either. I did remember metrosexual from 2003, information superhighway from 1993 and potty parity from 1990. Those terms seem quaint now.

The New Oxford American Dictionary chose hypermiling for its word of the year. The word refers to efforts to get the maximum gas mileage from your vehicle. 

Webster's New World Dictionary said overshare was the top word for 2008. It means giving too much personal information about yourself. I disdain the word, even if I do indulge in the practice.

See this post for other words of the year links.

Take a look at some of the top words for 2008.

As President-elect Barack Obama and his staff prepare for the new administration, the word "vet" has come up often in news reports.

I ran across the word "doorstepped" in a story about a British
journalist today. I didn't understand what it meant even in context. So I looked it up.