Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency & Other New Words Related to Money
Photo credit: btckeychain on VisualHunt / CC BY
Is Bitcoin as good as Monopoly money? Worse than gambling? Well, no matter your opinion, the word itself is now official. Bitcoin is among the 850 new words recently added by Merriam-Webster to its online dictionary.
New words must be “used frequently enough by some in order to be placed in a reference for all,” according to the Merriam-Webster website. Here are some of the new words that recently made it to the online dictionary, including six related to money.
Bandwidth: Today this word has nothing to do with electronics. When your boss tells you he’s giving you a new project because you have the bandwidth, it means you have the emotional or mental capacity.
Bitcoin: A digital currency used for online, peer-to-peer transactions without any government backing. It’s the most popular among virtual currencies.
Blockchain: A digital database containing information that can be used and shared simultaneously within a decentralized, publicly accessible network. Blockchain is key to Bitcoin and other digital currencies.
Cryptocurrency: Any currency that exists only digitally and has no central authority. It uses a decentralized system to record transactions and issuance of new units.
Initial Coin Offering: The first sale of a cryptocurrency to the public for the purpose of raising funds.
Mansplain: A man explaining something to a woman in a condescending way.
Microfinance: Financial services, especially microloans, provided to individuals or groups in developing countries.
Microcredit: Credit in the form of microloans provided to individuals or groups in developing countries.
Wordie: A lover of words, in the vein of foodie (food lover) and groupie (lover of a band).
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Verb, Verbing, Verbification: Turning Nouns into Verbs
Photo credit: btckeychain on VisualHunt / CC BY