Eminem Credited With Addition Of 'Stan' To Dictionary

DETROIT, MI — Detroit rapper Eminem has millions of stans, and they’re obsessed. This is no covfefe, a word with no apparent meaning that President Trump tweeted Tuesday night to the utter confusion and amusement of the world, but he probably accumulated some stans over it.

What does stan even mean? For that, turn to the Oxford English Dictionary, the undisputed authority on the English language, which added stan (not a proper noun) to the reference, where it joins about 171,476 words in current use and 47,156 obsolete words.

Stan is “an overzealous or obsessive fan of a particular celebrity,” the Oxford English Dictionary says, as in “he has millions of stans who are obsessed with him and call him a rap god.” (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The dictionary credits Eminem — offstage, Marshall Bruce Mathers III — with coining the word in the early 21st century with “Stan,” a dark song from “The Marshall Mathers LP” about an obsessed fan who kills his girlfriend because he’s frustrated that the rapper hasn’t responded to his fan letters.

As the song became popular, stan made its way into American slang. The Urban Dictionary also credits Eminem with coming up with the word for “an overzealous maniacal fan for any celebrity or athlete.” Acceptable synonyms might include stalker, fanatic, obsessed, infatuated and blind loyalty, according to the Urban Dictionary.

The Urban Dictionary even has an entry for covfefe, even though it’s only a few days old:

“A deliberate misspelling of coverage.
“Tweeted by Trump on around the time an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan killed least 90 and left at least 400 injured. The tweet pokes fun at the lack of coverage their death would have, and celebrates the destruction of Muslim lives.
“Much of the internet decided to join him in this celebration by circulating this word.
“ ‘Covfefe’ is white supremacist slang for ‘I agree with Trump's view on how little Muslim lives matter.’ ”

Boom.

There’s no word on whether the Oxford English Dictionary will add covfefe. Stay tuned.

Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/Associated Press