Merriam-Webster has added 100 words to the latest edition of its Collegiate Dictionary, including … drum roll, please … fanboy.
Yes, that most ubiquitous of message-board putdowns finally made its way into the dictionary after nearly 90 years (its first recorded use was in 1919). The definition: “a boy who is an enthusiastic devotee (as of comics or movies).”
Other terms that made the cut include “air quotes,” “dirty bomb,” “malware,” “mondegreen” and “Texas Hold ‘em.”
Update: Gia Manry asks about the omission of “fangirl,” and gets a speedy response from Merriam-Webster.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Hope they credited Keith Giffen.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
I’m pretty sure Mr. Giffen wasn’t around in 1919 …
July 7th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Now I’m curious as to what used that word back in 1919. I don’t think I ever read/heard that term till I saw Mallrats, and I was all ready a fanboy at the time.
July 7th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
I think the word was being used jokingly in the industry well before Mallrats. Didn’t Lobo make a fanboy crack on one of his first covers? And yeah, what the heck was worthy of fanboying in 1919?
And couldn’t it have been “a PERSON who is an enthusiastic devotee (as of comics or movies)”?
July 12th, 2008 at 11:27 am
I feel a little left out… don’t they think girls are fans too?