Make A Note Of It

I try to throw an educational post in here every so often- keep that brain matter churning and whatnot. Below are the 18 latest additions to the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary:

• amuse-bouche (noun) 1984 : a small complimentary appetizer offered at some restaurants
• battle dress uniform (noun) 1982 : a military uniform for field service
• bikini wax (noun) 1985 : a procedure for removing pubic hair from the skin near the edge of the bottom half of a bikini by applying hot wax, covering the wax with a cloth to which the wax and hair adhere, and then peeling it off quickly
• brain freeze (noun) 1991 : a sudden shooting pain in the head caused by ingesting very cold food (as ice cream) or drink
• chick flick (noun) 1988 : a motion picture intended to appeal esp. to women
• civil union (noun) 1992 : the legal status that ensures to same-sex couples specified rights and responsibilities of married couples
• cybrarian (noun) 1992 : a person whose job is to find, collect, and manage information that is available on the World Wide Web
• DHS (abbreviation) : Department of Homeland Security
• hazmat (noun) 1980 : a material (as flammable or poisonous material) that would be a danger to life or to the environment if released without precautions
• hospitalist (noun) 1996 : a physician who specializes in treating hospitalized patients of other physicians in order to minimize the number of hospital visits by other physicians
• metadata (noun) 1983 : data that provides information about other data
• otology (noun) 1842 : a science that deals with the ear and its diseases
• retronym (noun) 1980 : a term consisting of a noun and a modifier which specifies the original meaning of the noun ["film camera" is a ~]
• SARS (noun) [severe acute respiratory syndrome] 2003 : a severe respiratory illness that is caused by a coronavirus (genus Coronavirus), is transmitted esp. by contact with infectious material (as respiratory droplets), and is marked by fever, headache, body aches, a dry cough, hypoxia, and usu. pneumonia
• steganography (noun) 1985 1 archaic : cryptography 2 : the art or practice of concealing a message, image, or file within another message, image, or file
• tide pool (noun) 1853 : a pool of salt water left (as in a rock basin) by an ebbing tide—called also tidal pool
• Wi-Fi (certification mark) —used to certify the interoperability of wireless computer networking devices
• zaibatsu (noun) 1947 : a powerful financial and industrial conglomerate of Japan

Blogger's note: Okay how cool is it that they included "brain freeze?" And another thumbs up for the addition of "civil unions." Our government may not recognize them, but gosh darn it, the dictionary does. I call that progress.