http://www.boston.com/dailynews/363/nation/Never_mind_the_noogie_it_s_jus:.shtml

Never mind the noogie, it's just another dictionary update

By Associated Press, 12/29/2001 15:51

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) Gearheads and hotties now have an official place in the English language, and the wordsmiths at Merriam-Webster don't mind if they shake their booties or give each other noogies.

Those slang terms for the technology obsessed, physically attractive, buttocks and annoying knuckle rubs on the head have been added to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary Tenth Edition.

''These are words that have been in use for a long time,'' said Merriam-Webster spokesman Arthur Bicknell. ''To get into the dictionary, a new word must first appear in a number of reputable sources. Then we need evidence that its been assimilated into our language.''

That means new definitions of old terms now linked to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks most notably ''ground zero'' didn't make the cut this year.

''It's too soon to tell what will stick from Sept. 11,'' Bicknell said.

The 215,000-word Collegiate gets about 100 new entries each year.

On the Net: http://www.merriam-webster.com/

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2001

Answers

I refer to my "Snuggle Safes" as "warmies." Is that like hotties? Picture hot rollers but shaped like a frisbee, heat 'em in the microwave and put 'em under the kitty's bedding. Only I stole 'em for ME.

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2001