Omakase, banh mi and oat milk among 9 new food words added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary
- Each autumn, the Merriam-Webster dictionary updates its entries with new words, and this season sees 370 additions; of these, nine are food words
- Their inclusion reflects growing familiarity with things such as omakase, the Vietnamese sandwich banh mi, oat milk and the pumpkin spice in your latte
Seasoned food lovers may raise their eyebrows upon learning that some of their frequently used words, from American favourite pumpkin spice to Vietnamese banh mi, have only now been made official by the American English dictionary Merriam-Webster.
In an update to its long-standing list of phrases and terms, 370 new words have been added – nine of them food-related.
Some have long been in the foodie vernacular, such as “omakase” – a Japanese phrase that roughly translates as “I’ll leave it up to you” and refers to the practice of allowing the chef to serve a menu without giving customers a choice.
In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it is defined as “a series of small servings or courses (as of sushi) offered at a fixed price and whose selection is left to the chef’s discretion”.
