March 2007

New Word Watch

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

*  bobo noun [bourgeois + Bohemian]: a member of a social class of well-to-do professionals who espouse bohemian values and lead bourgeois lives

*  roentgenium noun [New Latin, from the fact that the element was synthesized on the centennial of Wilhelm Roentgen's discovery of X-rays] : a short-lived radioactive element produced artificially

*  telenovela noun [Spanish, from tele- tele- + novella novel, serial drama] : a soap opera produced in or televised in or from many Latin-American countries

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.