Hello Selfie, Goodbye Snollygoster Poem by Jim Yerman

For anyone who admires words yesterday was epic...revolutionary
As Merriam-Webster announced the latest words added to its dictionary.

New words are added as they become popular like the Thanksgiving treat turducken
Eating three birds placed inside each other makes me want to add a new word- yucken!

Selfie made the list as did tweep and fracking and pho
You can now use Yoopers or hash tag to show you’re in the know.

Thank you Merriam-Webster your addition of new words always makes me glad
But this day also has a tendency to make me somewhat sad.

With the birth of all these new words the Merriam-Webster’s editors turn cold
You see, in order to make room for the new words they must retire some of the old.

Pocket handkerchief is gone, I believe my great grandfather wore one
Nethoscope, an instrument for measuring clouds, is also getting shunned.

Snollygoster, an unprincipled but shrewd person, becomes a new dictionary omission
Why use that word, I’m sure the editors thought, when we have a better one...politician?

Stylopodium and Hodad are now words in the dictionary you will no longer see
Riboflavin replaces a complex of B vitamins once knows as Vitamin G.

The world is constantly changing after all that’s how it’s designed
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t some sadness for the words we leave behind.

Knowing there are words out there that we will no longer see
I guess in some way reminds us of our own mortality.

So welcome to all the new words as we watch our vocabulary grow
And as for all the old words...I’m sorry to see you go.

There is one consolation, however, if you, like me, are old-school literary
You will find both the old and new words in the unabridged dictionary.