Recently the lexicographers at the Cambridge Dictionary added 3,236 new words and phrases to their list of searchable words (as well as myriad new meanings of existing words). This news should be enough to excite word lovers everywhere or at least be enough to keep them interested in reading the next few hundred words, I hope – so let’s jump right in.

Let’s start by looking at how new words are selected for inclusion in the tome. According to Cambridge Dictionary Publishing Manager Wendalyn Nichols, “Some new terms are added very quickly and others can take some time. We try to identify words and uses that have proven staying power, rather than adding ones that might be short-lived.”

Here are a few of the words that made the cut this time, beginning with “the ick,” which is defined as “a sudden feeling that you dislike someone or something or are no longer attracted to someone because of something they do.”

On the other hand, a “boop” is one way of showing someone that you like them, and is accomplished by simply touching that person – or thing – gently on the head with your finger.

Another way of showing affection is by “pebbling,” which is the act of showing appreciation for someone by sending them small gifts, such as memes, videos, or links, that they think the other person would enjoy. The term, it’s said, comes from gentoo penguins, which give pebbles to potential mates as part of their courtship rituals.

One way to tell if your pebbles were well received is to wait for the recipient to give you a “chef’s kiss,” which is a movement in which they put their fingers and thumb together, kiss them, then pull their hand away from their lips.

If no chef’s kiss is forthcoming, you might want to study their “face journey,” defined as “a series of expressions that appear on someone’s face showing different emotions that they are experiencing as a reaction to something.”

“We also collect evidence of new words that have only appeared in English very recently,” said Nichols. But exactly how do the Cambridge editors know which newer words are worthy of being included in the dictionary? It turns out that they make use of a blog called “About words” that helps them decide.

On the blog, visitors are asked for their opinions on whether or not certain words and phrases are worthy of being included in the Cambridge Dictionary. The three choices people have are: “Yes! I’ve heard/read this a lot,” “Definitely not!” and “Let’s wait and see. Maybe people will start using it.”

One candidate for inclusion is the phrase “Generation T,” which is a way of referring to “a group of people who were born in the early 2000s and who spend a lot of their free time traveling.” Another hopeful is a new definition of “slop” —  “AI-generated content that is unwanted and is of poor quality.”

If you work in an office, have you ever been guilty of “mouse jiggling,” which is another candidate. It’s “the activity of making one’s computer mouse move at regular intervals . . . in order to make your employer think you are working.”

And if there’s a good reason for that mouse jiggling that you’re doing, it might be because your boss has burdened you with too many “vampire tasks,” which are all those “routine but necessary administrative tasks” that take time away from doing the important stuff.

“Lexicographers,” explained Nichols, “use the Cambridge English Corpus, a collection of more than 2 billion written and spoken English words, to gather evidence for how a new word is used by different people and in a variety of situations.” That’s a lot of words!

Jim Witherell of Lewiston is a writer and lover of words whose work includes “L.L. Bean: The Man and His Company” and “Ed Muskie: Made in Maine.” He can be reached at jlwitherell19@gmail.com.