Last year, the lexicographers at dictionary maker Merriam-Webster proclaimed w00t its Word of the Year. For 2008, they've added fanboy, webinar, netroots, and pretexting to the lexicon. Who cares? I do, because I find Merriam's online dictionary, more consistent, more focused, and better written than its wikified open dictionary or the Google results for define:pretexting. There'll be 100 or so new words in the Merriam-Webster's 2008 edition, due September 1. Meanwhile, I called the company and got the 25 most populist of the new entries as a teaser:

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary, Eleventh Edition
2008 Copyright

New Entries

1. air quotes n pl (1989) : a gesture made by raising and flexing the index and middle fingers of both hands that is used to call attention to a spoken word or expression

2. dark energy n (1998) : a hypothetical form of energy that produces a force that opposes gravity and is thought to be the cause of the accelerating expansion of the universe

3. dirty bomb n (1956) : a bomb designed to release radioactive material

4. dwarf planet n (1993) : a celestial body that orbits the sun and has a spherical shape but is too small to disturb other objects from its orbit

5. edamame n (1951) : immature green soybeans usu. in the pod

6. fanboy n (1919) : a boy who is an enthusiastic devotee (as of comics or movies)

7. infinity pool n (1992) : an outdoor swimming pool having an edge over which water flows into a trough but seems to flow into the horizon

8. jukebox musical n (1993) : a musical that features popular songs from the past

9. kiteboarding n (1996) : the sport of riding on a small surfboard that is propelled across water by a large kite to which the rider is harnessed

10. malware n (1990) : software designed to interfere with a computer’s normal functioning

11. mental health day n (1971) : a day that an employee takes off from work in order to relieve stress or renew vitality

12. mondegreen n [fr. the mishearing in a Scottish ballad of “laid him on the green” as “Lady Mondegreen”] (1954) : a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung

13. netroots n pl (2003) : the grassroots political activists who communicate via the Internet esp. by blogs

14. norovirus n (2002) : any of a genus of small round single-stranded RNA viruses; specif: Norwalk Virus

15. pescatarian n (1993) : a vegetarian whose diet includes fish

16. phytonutrient n (1994) : a bioactive plant-derived compound (as resveratrol) associated with positive health effects

17. pretexting n (1992) : the practice of presenting oneself as someone else in order to obtain private information

18. prosecco n (1881) : a dry Italian sparkling wine

19. racino n (1995) : a racetrack at which slot machines are available for gamblers

20. soju n (1978) : Korean vodka distilled from rice

21. subprime adj (1995) 1: having or being an interest rate that is higher than a prime rate and is extended esp. to low-income borrowers 2: extending or obtaining a subprime loan

22. supercross n (1983) : a motorcycle race held in a stadium on a dirt track having hairpin turns and high jumps

23. Texas Hold ’em n (1995) : poker in which each player is dealt two cards facedown and all players share five cards dealt faceup

24. webinar n (1998) : a live online educational presentation during which participating viewers can submit questions and comments

25. wing nut n (ca. 1900) 3 slang : one who advocates extreme measures or changes : radical

Some say "w00t" was originally [a truncated] expression common among players of Dungeons and Dragons tabletop role-playing game for 'Wow, loot!'" Another common myth is that it "derived from the gaming phrase, 'We Own the Other Team!'" And "others maintain that w00t is the sound several players make while jumping like bunnies in Quake III." Okay. The number of myths almost guarantees they are all wrong.

Most likely, "w00t" is simply a corruption of whoot which, like whoop, is an imitative cry for joy. It almost certainly predates all of the gamer mythologies. "W00t" — there it is. (Photo by ThinkGeek)

Most of the other entries are common to anyone with a high school vocabulary — apathetic, charlatan, conundrum, pretentious — with no particular significance to the year that was 2007. Except that they serve to describe Facebook, too. The dictionary even threw in a few long shots: eleemosynary, Pecksniffian, and sardoodledom. Seriously? And then a nod to the blogosphere (linkability) and l33t-speak (w00t).

The only candidates with any particular relevance to this year are the aging neologisms babymoon and blamestorm. While we're admittedly biased, we can't fathom these words being more significant to 2007 than the social network which beat News Corp.'s social network to the dictionary. The definition of "facebook" according to Merriam-Webster:

facebook
(verb) : To get on a facebook website.
Did you facebook today?

(verb) : to look up someone's profile on the popular Internet social network Facebook.
I facebooked Sarah the other day and posted a comment on her wall, but she has yet to reply to my comment.

(verb) : 1. to search for another person through the online directory know as facebook 2. to send a message through the online directory know as facebook
I facebooked Lauren yesterday to see where she goes to college.

(verb) : To add someone to your list of friends on the "facebook.com" website.
Hey, I saw you facebooked me. (also a noun, as in "Look him up on facebook.")