A few days ago I stumbled upon an article that said “Meh” was being added to the dictionary.

“Meh,” I thought, “What does that even mean?”

Turns out it's from "The Simpsons" and is a term of indifference. And now it is the public’s entry for the 30th anniversary of the Collin’s English Dictionary.

It got me thinking about how words come to have meaning and how those definitions evolve. There are those who think that words have no real meaning, that language is just a way for us to spin our wheels as we try to communicate. My English teacher last year had us read tons of modernist literature that had undertones of this message.

I think that’s totally stupid. But I wouldn’t write this blog if I didn’t think words have meaning. Rather, I think language is constantly evolving. Words come in and out of fashion. Last spring, I read an essay by the man who put together the first dictionary. I remember being in awe by how much power he had - he compiled what became our English language, he helped to choose the words that I use to write this today. Wacky, huh?

Anyway, Collins had the public submit suggestions for the dictionary’s public entry. Besides “meh,” submissions included “jargonaut” (one who loves jargon), “frenemey” (an enemy disguised as a friend) and “huggles” (a combination of hugs and snuggles). As I told piratequeen1776, anyone who uses the word “huggles” deserves to be huggled by a porcupine.

I’ve been trying to think of what word I would add to the dictionary, if I had the choice. I’m leaning towards "lunner" - the half-meal I almost always eat in between lunch and dinner - but that seems horribly unclever.

I also wonder why we need to add words to the dictionary. We have tons of great words right now that we don’t use. Like capricious, bamboozle and smattering. All fabulous underused words.

Do you have a wishful dictionary add-on? Or a word you wish people used more often? Let me know.