The folks at Merriam-Webster have been hard at work, keeping the dictionary relevant for a new generation of vibrant verbophiles. The new class of 690 words promises to keep M-W a real page-turner.

 

As you can see, the English language is alive and well, as its words, phrases and meanings continue to evolve. Allow me to introduce to you a few words from the class of 2023.

 

Doomscroll: to spend endless time scrolling on your phone. I’m an expert doomscroller, seamlessly switching between Instagram, Facebook and Reddit. While the youngsters prefer TikTok, I prefer to watch reposted TikTok videos on Instagram.

 

Beast mode: in sports, going “beast mode” is to take over...

It’s true — people with better spelling and grammar get more dates.

 

I regularly receive emails from readers asking me about the death of spelling and grammar, especially concerning the rise of generative AI. They fear writing skills are on the endangered species list as our lives become increasingly dependent on technology.

 

Never fear because you need good grammar and spelling to procreate (or at least get a date). But is this true across the board? Not so fast.

 

In a 2022 ProWritingAid study of over 12,000 online daters from the U.S. and the UK, 63% of women surveyed and 53% of men said good grammar was important to them for “swiping right” (finding someone...

New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and a few other senators have asked the Food and Drug Administration to take action to prevent another infant formula shortage.

Heinrich, who is the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Bob Casey, D-Pa., wrote a letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf on Sept. 27, asking the agency to ensure that production levels for domestic infant formula remains constant, and that store shelves continue to be stocked.

As the FDA continues to respond to the formula shortage of 2022, many questions remain on how the FDA is...

Congress passed a bill on Sept. 18 that renames the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinic for the late Corporal Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura, who died on Nov. 29. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., led the companion bill in the Senate.  S. 475 previously passed the Senate and now goes to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

“The call of service is one that a select few among us choose to answer,” Leger Fernández said. “Hershey Miyamura chose to answer it twice. He volunteered to serve not only in World War II, but also in the Korean War, where he was...