Vocabulary lesson: dumpster fire

 

Headline:  Wisconsin State Journal, 11/19/2022

According to Merriam Webster of the phrase 'dumpster fire', as in an utterly calamitous or mismanaged situation or occurrence : DISASTER, occurred in 2006.

Other coinages from the same year include:

• birther
• bucket list
• crowdsourcing
• YouTuber

NPR, 3/5/2018

The gleefully catastrophic phrase is one of 850 new additions the online dictionary announced today. 

Dumpster fire's inclusion marks a crowning moment for the treasured declaration and its oft-tweeted GIF. It's the metaphor we wouldn't want to live without — though the dictionary says the phrase's first-known usage was just ten years ago.  

"If a word is frequently used enough by some people, it has to be placed into a reference for all people," Merriam-Webster editor-at-large Peter Sokolowski tells NPR. He says the word has turned up often enough in print — and on social media — to merit its inclusion.