As strange as it may seem, the word ’embiggen’, which was originally coined on The Simpsons, has now been added to the English Dictionary.
The word first appeared in the season seven episode, Lisa the Iconoclast, which originally aired in 1996. In the episode, we learn that Jebediah Springfield, the founder of the show’s namesake town, was actually a murderous pirate named Hans Sprungfeld. However, before this shocking revelation, we see that the plaque attached to his statue reads “A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man”. The episode also features the word ‘cromulent’, which apparently means fine and acceptable.
Merriam-Webster, a company most well known for publishing dictionaries, tweeted that ’embiggen’ had been added to their English dictionary.
A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.
Also, ’embiggen’ is now a word we enter. https://t.co/3XmkZO0ral pic.twitter.com/wLUDsWIAga
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) March 5, 2018
The tweet included a link to the word’s entry on their website. They describe it as being a transitive verb meaning ‘to make bigger or more expansive’, and even included two examples of the word used in sentences, both of which have been included below:
This incredible chart was the final product. (Click to embiggen.) —Erik Malinowski
There are many painters who rely on computers as a tool or arbitrary gimmick, but the recent striated abstract paintings of Linda Day translate digital structures into painting language in a seamless way that embiggens both. —Doug Harvey
This is not the first time that a word or phrase created by The Simpsons has entered mainstream usage. ‘D’oh’ is probably the most obvious example, not to mention ‘cheese-eating surrender monkeys’. And although there is evidence to indicate its existence before the show, The Simpsons also popularized ‘meh’, which is now the go-to word to describe something average or mundane. Clearly, we have The Simpsons to thank for embiggening our vocabulary.
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