It took decades for fanboys across the world to be recognized as legitimate people.  For far too long they’ve been treated poorly amongst gamers as if they didn’t matter.  They battled deep in the trenches of the console wars and have apparently won.  Fanboys now have their legitimacy.

Merriam-Webster Inc. has decided to add the word fanboy to its new edition of the Collegiate Dictionary.  Words make the cut based on how widely they’re used in publications ranging from newspapers to technical manuals.  The word fanboy was found to have been first used in an English-language publication way back in 1919.  It took a lot of years but the deed has been done.

So from this day forth you can now point to an official definition of what it is to be a fanboy.  Whenever you have the urge to call someone a fanboy, you can now add ”it’s in the dictionary, look it up” to your arsenal.

Defintion according to Merriam-Webster:

Fanboy - boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies.

Other words to make the list of more than 100 new entries that have some interweb appeal were:

Texas Hold ‘em (1995) - Poker in which each player is dealt two cards face down and all players share five cards dealt face-up.

Webinar (1998) - live, online educational presentation during which participating viewers can submit questions and comments.

I wonder if the ladies of gaming will start to petition for fangirl?  Or is the word “boy” all encompassing?  What say you?