SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Due out in 2014, the latest update to the Merriam Webster’s Dictionary confirms Brooklyn as an adjective.
“We wanted to do some exciting things with language this year. We’re not just adding new pop culture terminology. We’re modernizing what already exists, making old words new again,” says Merriam-Webster Editor at Large Larry Skolonski.
So what about the place makes Brooklyn an adjective? We asked Brooklyn expert Jeremy Narlow, co-owner along with his mife (man-wife, not romantic, not listed in Webster’s) Teal Jones of indie-chic Brooklyn urban style outpost, The Life We Live In.
“Brooklyn as an adjective?” he laughed when we shared the news. “Oh God, love that. Love you, Webster,” he added blowing a kiss. “Hmm. It means collaboration. It means community. It’s a gritty windowed nook filled with purple energy and plaid unisex home goods. It’s a space where you can braid my hair while I talk about my former roommate’s shitty memoir. Did you read it? Of course you did. Guess which roommate was me.”
We asked Jeremy to use it in a sentence. “When Dahlia showed up late for our collective’s monthly pour-over tasting, I let it slide because her paper-thin housedress and spiky fluorescent jewelry made her look more Brooklyn than any fucking bridge.”
When asked if he had any suggestions for next year’s Webster’s, Narlow pulled up his suspenders and practically fell out of his untied work boots. “Do you think we could turn this belly up? OMG, let’s make artisanal a place, like a destination, a dreamscape, a field trip, amusement park kind of thing? We must have a blacksmith, or at least a welder.”
Now we got you, Brooklyn. Congrats as you join the noun-adjective ranks of hip, dinosaur and South Beach.
The official new entry:
1 Brook·lyn geographical name \ˈbru̇-klən\
: borough of New York City at SW end of Long Island pop 2,465,326
2 Brook·lyn adjective \ˈbru̇-klən\
: marked by good craftsmanship and house-pickled nostalgia
Origin of BROOKLYN
Dutch, A broken land