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fast pace at which Internet has entered and transformed our lives has had impact on words and language we use. It is 20 years since website Dictionary.com was created, and it has looked back at past two decades to see how worldwide web has created additional definitions to many commonly used words. Dictionary.com boss Liz McMillan says it's interesting to see, "just how much rise of technology has shaped our word use over time". She said: "To commemorate 20th birthday of Dictionary.com, we look back at 20 words that have expanded in meaning over last 20 years." The website has been documenting new lexical uses since, "the dawn of Internet era".

Perhaps one of most easily recognisable changes is to word "friend". For centuries, this word has been noun. However, with meteoric rise of Facebook, this very common word is now also verb, as in, "Can you friend me?" A variant of this word is "befriend," which means to become friends with someone (usually in real and not cyber world). The word "tablet" used to commonly refer to flat piece of stone, clay, or wood that is used to write on. Now it's more likely to mean touchscreen device that is Internet-enabled. Other words that have new definitions include "cloud," "wireless," "viral," "tweet" and "troll". There's no knowing which new words will have new meanings in next two decades.