Photo used under a Creative Commons license with Cofrin Library.

There was quite the hubbub among Washington journalists about the Associated Press’ recent decision to remove the hyphen from “e-mail” in its stylebook. But I’d argue that the list of annual additions to the Oxford English Dictionary is of far wider importance. As always happens with a list of new words, there are some surprises (why were banh mi or headline not in the OED before?), some words that will ruffle a few feathers (did the religious among us needed Second Coming defined?), additions which feel pretty dated (muffin top — slightly behind on Seinfeld, are we, guys?), and new words which you know that the editors are just putting in to mess with us (wassup).

But there are plenty of cool words which are making their debuts in this edition. Being a bit of a word geek, here are a few of my favorites:

• kleftiko – a Greek dish consisting of lamb marinated with lemon juice and herbs and cooked slowly in a sealed container
• lumpenintelligentsia – aspirant intellectuals
• fnarr fnarr – a
  British informal exclamation used to represent sniggering, typically at a sexual innuendo
• roustabouting – performing temporary, unskilled labor
• rumble-de-thumps – a traditional Scottish dish containing potato, cabbage and onion
• tetri – plural of tetris, or a fractional currency used in Georgia
• Royal Free disease – chronic fatigue syndrome, as named for a breakout at the Royal Free hospital in London in 1955
• gremolata – a chopped herb condiment typically made of lemon zest, garlic, and parsley

Feel free to disagree and leave your most (or least) favorite new OED word in the comments.