What’s a ‘chef’s kiss’? Merriam-Webster dictionary zhuzhes up their list, adding 690 new words – many of them food-related
- Merriam-Webster added hundreds of on-trend words to the dictionary at the end of September – among them plenty related to food
- The quantity of new words associated with the professional kitchen is possibly a side effect of the popularity of shows such as The Bear and films like The Menu
It is always intriguing to see what gets officiated into the canon of approved dictionary words – and the latest unveiling by Merriam-Webster captures the zeitgeist with terms ranging from “cheffy” to “zhuzh”.
The latter – not to be confused with zhoug, the spicy green Yemeni sauce – was certainly becoming more prevalent both in references to fashion and beauty (“A quick zhuzh of my hair…” is an example that the dictionary lists) and to gastronomy (“I love to use [truffle butter] as a final zhuzh in a risotto or soup”), and its overdue inclusion reflects its use in everyday parlance.
Merriam-Webster’s criteria for including a word in its dictionary is based on usage – the more popular or ubiquitous a word is in published material, from books to magazines and electronic publications, the more likely it is to be chosen. According to the organisation, its editors spend an hour or two every day reading a cross section of texts to identify words of interest.
There is stagiaire, a French term that now refers to the – usually unpaid – interns who cut their teeth in restaurants to become a chef; “stage”, the noun for the internship itself, is also included.
There is also simply “cheffy”, the adjective used to describe the characteristics of, or befitting of, a professional chef – the dictionary pinpoints “showiness, complexity of exoticness” as telltale signs of cheffiness.
Then, there is, of course, the “chef’s kiss” – a word the dictionary believes was first used in 1992, and is listed as “a gesture of satisfaction or approval made by kissing the fingertips of one hand and then spreading the fingers with an outward motion – often used interjectionally”.
The “chef’s kiss” was previously a hot topic of discussion on the Merriam-Webster “Wordplay” blog, where it is described as “a spicy piece of meme-snark” and lauded for its ability to convey anything from smug satisfaction to ironic appreciation.
“You’re likely to find chef’s kiss on Twitter [now X], where both snark and brevity prevail,” they write. “A common way to use the phrase is by enclosing it in asterisks, indicating that it’s meant to be a gesture.”
Chicha, a beer made from fermented corn that is popular in South American and Central American countries, is another term that has landed on the list. Italy’s guanciale – the cured fatty pork jowl that is a non-negotiable ingredient in a proper carbonara – is also recognised.
Smashburger, which has been popularised through viral Instagram and TikTok videos of sizzling beef patties violently pressed into the grill at the start of the cooking process, has joined the ranks as well.
