“Achievement Whore” added to Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Clearly there is some achievement whoring going on amongst the wordsmiths at Merriam-Webster.

As is now tradition, the Merriam-Webster dictionary has added to their list of words which give meaning to the latest lingo in pop culture, technology and current events.

No matter how odd the choice of adding ‘achievement whore’ may seem, the dictionary editors are adamant it shows promise for sticking around in everyday vocabulary, at least among the growing demographic of gamers.

“There will be linguistic prudes who will turn their nose up at a word like `achievement whore,”’ said Seth Gerstmann, Merriam-Webster’s president. “But it’s become a part of our language and lifestyle. It’s used by professional writers in mainstream publications. My son says it to me when I’m playing Avatar: The Last Airbender. I like it. With an attitude like that he’ll never have a higher gamerscore than me.”

One of those naysayers is Jack Abramowicz, a professor of English at the University of British Columbia, and the executive secretary of the Polish Dialect Society.

“I find the word to be grossly inappropriate and an unfitting addition to our society,” he said. “My son would be beaten severely for even thinking about using that word in my presence. I may just beat him anyway. Have you seen him?”

But Merriam-Webster traces achievement whore back to 2005 when Microsoft’s Xbox 360 unveiled a new achievement point system that tracks players “gamerscore” across all the games they play. The act of achievement whoring is defined as ‘playing games with the aim to unlock achievements rather than for pure enjoyment.’ For an example of achievement whoring at it’s worst have a look at the video below.

Today, the word shows up in countless articles, message board insults and everyday lingo. That’s all that’s required for a word to be considered for collegiate dictionary. If it become prevalent enough in society, it’s in.

But as president Gerstmann reminds us: “You never have to use the word ‘achievement whore’ unless you want to.”

For the record, he does.

More gamer pranks from around the interwebs:

• Companion Cube in God of War PSP (Ready at Dawn)
• Nintendo Demos Hardcore Smash Bros Wii (IGN)
• Hidden Characters in Killzone 2 Multiplayer (Killzone.com)
• My Wii Buddy ventriloquist game (GameStop)
• Microsoft Announces Alpine Legend (Xbox.com)
• Nintendo Announces Wii Height (i-mezzo.net)
• Dragon Quest IX on sale in Japan (Kotaku)
• Umbrella Corporation Requests Government Bailout (GameSpot)
• Konami Teases Next Metal Gear (Konami.jp)
• Razer and Valve Co-Developing Squad Shooter (RazerZone.com)
• World of Warcraft Introduces PvP Dance Battles (WorldOfWarcraft.com)
• Diablo 3 to Introduce Archivist Class (Blizzard.com)
• New StarCraft 2 Unit Announced: Terratron (StarCraft2.com)
• Cube of War gameplay video (YouTube)
• Capcom Shows Off Dark Void’s New Look (Capcom Unity)
• Bungie Introduces B.U.N.G.L.E. Pro Gaming League (Bungie.net)
• Valve Shows Sneak Peak at Next TF2 Update (TeamFortress.com)
• Crytek Announces CryENGINE 3.5 (MyCrisis)
• ThinkGeek Sells Functional Portal T-Shirts (Think Geek)
• Battlefield Heroes Partners with Swedish Company D?rk (Battlefield-Heroes.com)
• NCSoft Announces City of Heroes: Golden Age (Big Download Blog)
• The Witcher: Mysterious Secrets Announcement (Joystiq)
• id Presents World of Quake Live (QuakeLive.com)

BONUS – Japanese pranks:

• Join the Black Irem Troop, Earn Home Rewards (Irem)
• Evangelion Live Action TV Drama Announced (Yahoo! Japan)
• SNK Playmore Announces Star Radish For Famicom (SNK Playmore)
• THE TALESOFM@STER Location Test Report (Talesing)
• Lineage II Introduces New Afro Server (NCSoft)
• Final Fantasy Palace Completed In Yoyogi, Tours Offered To FFXI Players
  (Square Enix FFXI Blog)

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