In an effort to keep up with the times, Merriam-Webster every year adds hundreds of new words to its dictionary. After all, the language we use on a day-to-day basis is always evolving. Just this past February, for example, Merriam-Webster announced that it added more than 1,000 new words to the dictionary, including some newbies from the tech world such as net neutrality, abandonware, binge-watch and photobomb.
And just a few days ago, Merriam-Webster added the word Sheeple to its online dictionary, defining it as "people who are docile, compliant, or easily influenced." Or in other words, "people likened to sheep."
Wake up!
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster)April 27, 2017
'Sheeple' is in the dictionary now.https://t.co/pbXVADEoBm
Now that's all well and good, but here's where things get interesting funny.
In a subsection to the new dictionary entry, the word "Sheeple" is used in a pair of sample sentences so that readers can have better grasp on how the word can and should be used. There, Merriam-Webster threw a well-placed jab at Apple enthusiasts, effectively calling them Sheeple, something which many Android proponents and longtime Windows users have been calling Apple fans for years on end.
The sample sentence in question reads: "Apple's debuted a battery case for the juice-sucking iPhone—an ungainly lumpy case the sheeple will happily shell out $99 for."
The quote is attributed to Doug Criss of CNN via an article he wrote back in December of 2015. Now we could take the time to point out that Apple's own iPhone battery case is actually quite sleek relative to other battery pack cases, but I suppose doing so might just be proving Criss' point. That said, Apple fans will just have to take this one on the chin and laugh it off.
And besides, if one is looking for questionable Apple designs, the aforementioned battery pack is probably not the place to start: we're looking at you AirPods.