13 words the Internet changed forever
Dictionary.com marked its 20th anniversary on October 15, 2015. To celebrate, the folks at the site took a look back at some of the words that have changed profoundly in the last two decades, reflecting the way culture has evolved.
Here are 13 words the Internet has changed forever (for better or for worse).
We start with "cloud," which once upon a time referred to big puffs of condensed moisture in the sky. Ooh! That one looks like a server farm!
-Amanda Schupak
Fail
With so many humiliating things to enjoy on the Internet, we needed an easy way to digitally point and laugh.
Friend
It used to be a confidant. Now it's a verb.
Like
Having a positive feeling about something doesn't count unless everyone in your social network knows it.
Meme
Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins coined the word, from the Greek mīmeîsthai meaning "to imitate, copy," in 1976. Now it mostly refers to cat gifs.
Ping
See also: onomatopoeia
Profile
Dating will never be the same.
Swipe
We'd swipe left on a lot of these new definitions if we could.
Text
This used to be a noun.
Timeline
No longer so much about time as what you've missed since your last login.
Tweet
I know why the caged bird microblogs.
Read: Twitter's top 10 tweets
Viral
This used to be a bad thing.
Unplug
Literal, meet figurative.