October 2005

New Word Watch

Merriam-Webster editors are giving the following words serious consideration for entry in a Merriam-Webster dictionary:

*   biodiesel noun: a fuel that is similar to diesel fuel and is derived usually from vegetable sources (as soybean oil)

*   drama queen noun: a person given to often excessively emotional performances or reactions

*   phishing noun [alteration (influenced by phreaking) of fishing] : a scam by which an e-mail user is duped into revealing personal or confidential information which the scammer can use illicitly

Do you have a suggestion for a word we should be watching for? E-mail us at Comments@Word.com, and we’ll tell you what we have on that word so far.