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

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