Editorial standards
How we write entries
The standards MeaningBook entries are held to, so you know what the page in front of you is — and isn’t — telling you.
Choosing words
We write about words people are actually looking up: new slang, acronyms, memes, and older words that have picked up a new use. Being searched for is a reason to look at a word, not proof that it is new or popular, and we don’t describe it that way.
Definitions
Definitions are written in our own words and kept short. When a word has clearly different uses, each one gets its own numbered sense with its own context, tone and sources. The tone note says how a word usually lands — playful, mocking, affectionate — not whether it is good or bad.
Sources
Every entry lists the public sources it relies on, with the date each one was accessed. Small numbers next to a meaning point to the sources that support it. We link to sources so you can judge them yourself; a link is not an endorsement of everything on that page.
Review before publication
In the full edition, an entry is published only after a person has reviewed its meaning, examples and sources. Automated tools may help find words worth looking at, but they don’t decide what an entry says, and an automated check never counts as that review.
About this preview: the entries shown here are samples that demonstrate how the site works. They link to public sources, but they have not completed the editorial review described above and are not published entries.
Examples
Example sentences are written for this site to show typical use. They are not quotes, and we never present them as things real people said.
Origins and dates
We only describe where a word comes from when a source supports it. If we can’t verify an origin, the entry says “Origin not verified.” — we don’t fill the gap with a likely-sounding story, a first user, or a date it supposedly took off.
Dates describe the entry, never the word. In this preview, sample entries show only an “Added to preview” date: the day the sample was added here. It is not a publication date. Published entries will show the dates they were published and last updated.
One word, one entry
Different spellings and question forms — “brainrot”, “brain rot”, “what does brain rot mean” — lead to the same entry. Spelling variants are listed on the entry as “also written”.
Corrections
Slang moves quickly, and meanings shift. When we fix a mistake in a published entry or change what it says, the entry’s “Updated” date changes with it. We don’t quietly rewrite what a word was said to mean without updating that date.