In keeping with the general tenor of the times, “dumpster fire” now has its own entry in the dictionary.
NPR reported that Miriam Webster has announced 850 additions to its online dictionary, “dumpster fire” among them. And I think we all understand why the term made it:
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.
Miriam Webster has defined the term as “an utterly calamitous or mismanaged situation or occurrence: disaster.” Dumpster fires as far as the eye can see.