Cambridge Dictionary Dumbing Down the Language to New Lows

AP

What the skibidi is happening to the English language?

“Skibidi” is one of the slang terms popularized by social media that are among more than 6,000 additions this year to the Cambridge Dictionary.

“Internet culture is changing the English language and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the dictionary,” said Colin McIntosh, lexical program manager at Cambridge Dictionary, the world’s largest online dictionary.

“Skibidi” is a gibberish term coined by the creator of an animated YouTube series and can mean “cool” or “bad” or be used with no real meaning as a joke. More

10 Comments on Cambridge Dictionary Dumbing Down the Language to New Lows

  1. Dr. Tar:

    Cambridge Dictionary Dumbing Down the Language to New Lows

    Beg to differ. It’s the dumb speakers of English who are dumbing down the language. The dictionary is doing what it’s supposed to do: provide the meaning of a word unknown to the user.

    Po-po. Rando. Sesh. Za. Skibidi. I despise these but whether I like it or not they’ve entered the language and it’s useful to know WTF they mean.

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  2. In the Kinks song Well Respected Man, there is a line that goes “and he likes his fags the best.” The word fag is, or used to be, a slang term for cigarette. The word used to be included in the Official Scrabble Dictionary with that definition.

    It is not in the latest edition, probably because it was deemed “offensive.”

    I forget what the words are, but there has been a call to remove other words from dictionaries because they were “offensive.” I agree with Uncle Al that the purpose of dictionaries is to give definitions. Being included in dictionaries does not mean that a work is “approved.”

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