Ministry of Education to Announce 150 Popular Internet Terms|教育部將公布 台灣5年150新詞

In the past 10 years, the Ministry of Education has not expanded the vocabulary in the official dictionary. A team has been tasked with searching for popular internet terms and adding them to the official dictionary.


It will be possible to find popular internet terms in the official online mandarin dictionary. The Ministry of Education has set up a dedicated team to cross-reference the terms commonly used by members of the media with those in current dictionaries in order to publish the 150 words that can most accurately reflect the changes in Taiwan's society. In order for the words to be added to the official mandarin dictionary, they are judged based on the number of times and frequency that they are used. Idioms such as "the three piggies" is currently in the dictionary, whereas terms such as "aircraft carrier" and "washboard", which have been highly criticized for objectifying women, have been removed.

"The three piggies" is not a traditional proverb. It is more like an idiom. Whether or not it is fit to be included in the dictionary is a subject of discussion.

The editors also said that the new words will be first added to the appendix of the dictionary, before they are eventually added as official terms.