‘Aha Moment’: Oprah Winfrey’s Personal Catch-Phrase Officially Added to the Dictionary
Thursday, August 16, 2012 at 11:28AM 
By M. MARTIN/EEW STAFF
The scripture tells us in Proverbs 18:21, the power of life and death is in the tongue. Apparently, so is the power to shape culture. After repeatedly raving about her “aha moments,” media mogul Oprah Winfrey's popular catch-phrase has officially become part of the dictionary.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary, which adds new words annually to reflect changing cultural trends in communication, viewed Oprah's terminology as worthy of becoming an immortalized part of the English language.
Merriam-Webster, which was originally the G. & C. Merriam Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, is an American company that publishes reference books, especially dictionaries that are descendants of Noah Webster's An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828).
It adds roughly 100 new words each year to the 114-year old publication.
The official definition of "aha moment" that you'll find in the dictionary is "A moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension."
If you're still a bit curious about the new term, watch Oprah Winfrey explain it in the video below:
Aha! We get it...
If you're curious about more words and would like to enhance your vocabularity, visit Merriam-Webster's website. And if you feel that you have invented a phrase or term that should be in the dictionary and currently isn't, you can submit your own here.
Who knows? You just may have an aha moment of your own.
Reader Comments (1)
Better than F-bomb. That made it in too.