On a recent Tuesday, Merriam-Webster added 1,400 new definitions to its online dictionary. For word game players, new official words mean new legal plays. But the most interesting thing in this update isn't a new word. It's where one came from.

The Rickroll Has an Origin Story and It Involves a Duck

Merriam-Webster now officially defines "Rickroll" as "to trick (someone) into hearing the song Never Gonna Give You Up by English singer Rick Astley." You know the move. You've probably been on both sides of it.

But the official definition skips the best part: Rickrolling didn't start with Rick Astley. It started with a duck on wheels.

The predecessor was "duckrolling," an earlier internet bait-and-switch prank where links redirected to an image of a duck with car tires superimposed on it. That image existed because a word filter on a forum was replacing "egg" in "eggroll" with "duck." Someone typed "eggroll," got "duckroll," and an entire genre of internet pranking was accidentally born. Rickrolling inherited the format and just swapped the duck for Rick.

The chain is: someone types "eggroll"... filter turns it to "duckroll"... internet discovers the duck... bait-and-switch becomes a prank format... Rick Astley enters... dictionary entry. Language builds on accidents. Beautiful accidents involving ducks.

Which New Words Actually Matter for Your Rack

Most of the 1,400 additions are cultural touchstones, not Scrabble weapons. But knowing the official definitions gives you legitimacy when challenged. Here's what made it in, with the definitions Merriam-Webster attached:

• Looksmaxxing: "the practice of taking one or more sometimes extreme or dangerous measures intended to increase one's physical attractiveness." Twelve letters. Probably not playable. Good to know anyway.
• Parasocial: "a one-sided emotional connection with someone (especially a celebrity or fictional character) whom one does not know personally." Ten letters. If the board cooperates, that's a meaningful play.
• Shishito: "a slender usually mild chili pepper of East Asia." Eight letters, two I's. If you ever get those tiles, now you know it's official.
• Superfood: "a food (such as salmon, broccoli, or blueberries) that is rich in nutrients." Now in the dictionary. Salmon has known about this for years.
• Sunday scaries: "feelings of anxiety or sadness that arise on Sunday from the knowledge that the weekend is almost over." Two words, so no direct tile value. But someone finally wrote it down officially, which is a comfort.
• Cake pop: "a compressed ball of cake crumbs and icing that is dipped in a usually chocolate or sugary coating." Again, two words. Still delicious.

Also joining the dictionary: yacht rock, chili crisp, shapewear, cuffing season. Looksmaxxing has company.

Words Go In. They Don't Come Out.

Merriam-Webster, based in Springfield, Mass., didn't remove any words in this update. That's not unusual. It's the policy. Words that make it in stay in, and the dictionary just keeps growing. Many of these new definitions will also appear in upcoming print editions, which means someday someone will crack open a physical Merriam-Webster and find "Rickroll" right there between the other R words.

President Gregory Barlow oversees an organization that has been accumulating language for over a century without subtracting any of it. The internet accidentally invented a prank involving a duck and auto tires, which evolved into a Rick Astley delivery mechanism, which is now a permanent entry in one of the most authoritative dictionaries in the English language.

That is not a metaphor. That is just what happened.

The Takeaway for Word Nerds

Most of these 1,400 words won't transform your Scrabble score tonight. But they confirm something worth knowing: the words you use every day are becoming the words you can play. "Parasocial" is ten letters and officially real. "Shishito" has a tile-friendly letter distribution. Keep an eye on dictionary updates, because today's internet slang is tomorrow's valid challenge response.

And next time someone Rickrolls you, you can explain the entire duckroll etymology while they wait for you to stop being annoyed about it. That's a power move. Use it wisely.

Source: Languagehat