Ever heard of “looksmaxxing”? If you haven’t, your child might have – it’s an online term referring to the sometimes extreme pursuit of physical perfection.

Maybe you’ve been “Rickrolled”, or sent a link to Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up music video in disguise as a prank. To handle this humiliation, perhaps you’ll indulge in “copium”, or the “avoidance, denial, or minimisation” of a negative or embarrassing circumstance or situation.

These are all examples of the 1,400 new words and definitions recently added to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. The additions “reflect words and meanings that have demonstrated widespread use over time, offering a window into the world today,” the dictionary’s site reads.

Some of these fresh entries – AGI, short for “artificial general intelligence”, and “glow-up,” which means a “dramatic positive change in someone or something’s physical appearance” – feel quite zeitgeist-y.

But Merriam-Webster said that it’s trying to avoid entering “flash in the pan” trends into their centuries-old publication.

Instead, the dictionary looks for words which meet three criteria: frequent, widespread, and meaningful use.

That means additions have to be used often, over a sustained period of time. People from different industries and locations need to be able to recognise the word, and it has to have a useful meaning.

Still, there is “no committee, no advocacy, no meetings for new word inclusion” for this edition.

A suggestion can be denied but later admitted; time may prove or disprove its relevance.

Here are some of the new entries, as well as their meanings:

• Superfood – “a food…that is rich in nutrients”,
• Chili crisp – “a spicy, crunchy condiment made typically of oil, fried chili peppers, and often other aromatics”,
• Cake pop – “a lollipop… made usually of a compressed ball of cake crumbs and icing”,
• Cuffing season – “a time of the year when people who are not married or in a relationship begin looking for a short-term romantic partner to spend the colder months of the year with”,
• Crashout – “a mental or emotional breakdown”,
• Yacht rock – “a style of soft rock music originating in the 1970s and 1980s”,
• California sober – “recreational use of marijuana and/or alcohol combined with abstinence from other drugs”,
• Shapewear – “tight-fitting undergarments designed to shape and smooth the body”,
• Neckbeards – either “a socially awkward gamer or computer nerd” or “a misogynistic or ultraconservative Internet troll”,
• Trash panda – raccoons,
• Mandela effect – “the experience of many people having the same false memory”,
• Vibe coding – “using an artificial intelligence system to generate computer code”,
• AGI – stands for artificial general intelligence,
• Uncanny valley – “feelings of unease or revulsion in response to the nearly but imperfectly lifelike quality of something”,
• Promposal – “a creative and often elaborately or extravagantly staged request for someone to be one’s date for a prom”,
• Parasocial – “a one-sided emotional connection with someone… whom one does not know personally”,
• Meme coin – “an altcoin that is created typically as a humorous tribute to something… or someone… and that typically has no real utility”.

If you want to see how up-to-date your slang knowledge is, read our Gen Z guide.

Zia Yusuf has been mocked at the Liberal Democrats’ autumn conference for supposedly being blocked from running for parliament by his own party.

Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson is a prominent politician known for his divisive online presence, but he is not actually an MP.

However, Yusuf suggested to BBC Question Time earlier this year that he may have put himself forward as a party candidate in a recent by-election only to not be selected by Reform.

So the Lib Dems’ home affairs spokesperson, Max Wilkinson, took aim at the right-wing politician while speaking to his own party delegates on Monday.

He described Yusuf as the “angriest man on the internet”, adding: “Isn’t he just totally ridiculous?

“The wannabe MP who spends so much time on X posting increasingly extreme and offensive ideas that even the Reform Party now has to block his route to parliament.

“It’s no wonder he’s so angry.”

The Cheltenham MP then challenged Yusuf to a debate, adding: “You’re a self-style hardman of politics. You’re always up for a scrap. As you can probably tell, I’m not afraid to mix it either.

“So when are we going to debate, Zia? Or are you a big chicken?”

Reform UK has been approached for comment.

There have been seven by-elections since Reform’s surprising success in the July 2024 general election, but Yusuf has not been selected by his party in any of them.

Instead he has become a well-known name on X, having caused multiple controversies by attacking other politicians – including those in his own party.

At the weekend, he hit out at “deadbeat Tory ministers” who he claimed had failed to cut down on immigration – words which many took as a criticism of ex-Conservative MPs, Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick.

He has been accused of racism after slamming a former child refugee and a Labour council leader because she was born in Somalia.

Yusuf also previously called former Tory defence secretary Ben Wallace – who served in the Army – a “traitor” to the UK.

His remarks have drawn criticism from within his own party, including from Farage who previously said he would give Yusuf a “ticking off” for his “over the top” language.

Former Tory cabinet minister and now Reform member Nadine Dorries also told Times Radio earlier this month: “I think Zia’s got a problem with Twitter. Someone needs to take his phone off him.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

One thing nobody tells you before you become a parent is that one day you’re probably going to have to get your kids – scratch that, the entire household – treated for worms.

Specifically threadworms, which – I didn’t realise until recently – is quite a common problem for young ’uns.

My eldest has been back to school just over a week and we’ve already had the dreaded email that worms is doing the rounds.

Threadwords – or pinworms, as they’re sometimes known – are tiny white worms that can be found in your child’s poo or around their anus. They look like little bits of thin thread, hence the name, and can be up to 1cm long.

They spread when kids swallow the tiny eggs they lay, which can be found on other children’s hands, fingernails and things that get touched a lot (think school desks, sandboxes or toys), according to KidsHealth.

When the eggs make their way through the digestive system, they hatch and then a couple of months later the adult female worms lay eggs on the skin around the anus, which can make it very itchy.

Kids then scratch their bottoms, get more eggs on their nails and hands, spread the eggs around, and the cycle repeats itself.

According to the NHS, the worms usually come out at night while your child is sleeping.

As a result, parents are encouraged to use a torch to check their kid’s bottom while they are asleep – especially if you’re not able to inspect their poo properly for signs of the parasite.

• extreme itching around the anus or vagina, particularly at night;
• irritability and waking up during the night;
• weight loss;
• wetting the bed;
• mild tummy pain;
• irritated skin around the anus.

The good news is you don’t usually have to go to the doctor’s about worms. Pharmacists can treat the issue, usually with mebendazole.

Everyone in the household over two years old will need to take it, even if you don’t think you have worms. (If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, let the pharmacist know.)

Unfortunately the medicine kills the worms, but not the eggs (which annoyingly can live for up to a fortnight outside the body).

So, in addition to everyone taking medicine, you’ll need to adopt a load of extra hygiene measures in your daily life and home to truly get rid of them.

• regularly washing your hands, scrubbing nails (get a nail brush as this will keep them nice and clean) and keeping nails short,
• encouraging your kids to wash hands regularly and keep their hands out of their mouths,
• showering every morning,
• rinsing toothbrushes before using them,
• washing bedding, towels and toys on a hot wash (60C) for several days after treatment,
• disinfecting kitchen and bathroom surfaces,
• hoovering regularly and dusting with a damp cloth,
• making sure everyone wears underwear at night and changes it in the morning.

The NHS advises against shaking clothing or bedding (as this can, rather grimly, disperse the eggs around your house), sharing towels or flannels, and biting nails or sucking thumbs and fingers.

The health service adds that kids with worms can still go to nursery or school.

Dementia charity Alzheimer’s Society and think tank The King’s Fund have called for a “cancer-style revolution” in dementia care, which they currently describe as being “stuck in the 20th century”.

A report published last week suggested that cancer used to be as stigmatised as dementia is now, claiming that “dementia is where cancer was 50 years ago”.

But cancer care, and indeed cancer outcomes, have improved drastically over those decades, despite real concerns. In the ’70s, about 25% of those diagnosed with cancer survived for 10 years or more; now, that’s about 50%.

When people who had experienced both dementia and cancer care were asked to compare the two by Alzheimer’s Society, 51% said their cancer treatment was better, while only 11% were more satisfied with their dementia care.

The charity said the successes of the NHS’ cancer programs ought to give policymakers a “blueprint for tackling dementia”.

On average, dementia is diagnosed 3.5 years after symptoms begin.

Michelle Dyson, CEO of Alzheimer’s Society, said that in comparison, “if you have cancer, it is treated urgently, you get a specific diagnosis, and there is a clear pathway that takes you through your care and treatment”.

“With dementia, it can be years before you get a diagnosis and, all too often, people are sent home with a leaflet and little else,” she continued.

Alzheimer’s Society has pushed for an 18‑week referral‑to‑treatment window (unlike cancer referral pathways, there is currently no set waiting time for dementia in the UK).

The government has already committed to appointing a “dementia tsar” who would oversee “sustained change” in how dementia is treated. This comes after the success of 2000’s first “cancer tsar”, Sir Mike Richards, who ran multiple national initiatives to improve treatment.

And experts think we need to change how we think about dementia, too, much as we’ve transformed how we see cancers over the years.

For instance, the report states that most of us aren’t aware that 45% of dementia cases could be preventable.

The paper reads: “Fatalism has increasingly been replaced by hope. People living with dementia need similar hope.”

Sir Mike Richards, the UK’s first cancer tsar, said that when he first joined oncology, people said things like “don’t they all die?”.

But, he continued: “While there are still real challenges in cancer, the progress made shows what can be possible when investment, collaboration, leadership and hope combine.

“Today, what continues to make the difference are clear diagnosis and treatment pathways with timed targets, and a national registry that tracks progress.”

The report authors said dementia is “at a turning point, with scientific advances creating opportunities that did not exist even five years ago”.

That means that learning how best to create and implement treatment and support systems is becoming more “urgent” than ever.

Sir Mike Richards said: “The conditions are right for the incoming dementia tsar to lead a movement for change, but it will require everyone involved – patients, clinicians, health service managers, academics, charities, industry, together with ongoing political will – to deliver long-term change.”

The revamped Strictly Come Dancing returned to our screens over the weekend – with Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe making their hosting debut and viewers finding out which of the professionals each of the new celebrities had been paired up with ahead of the first live show this coming weekend.

However, with 19 pros currently in the show’s resident troupe and only 15 famous contestants on this year’s line-up, that meant a few dancers were left on the bench.

And, folks… it was bad news for Neil Jones once again.

Over the years, it’s become something of a running joke among Strictly fans that Neil is often left without a celebrity partner – and fortunately, it’s one that the man himself sees the funny side of.

In fact, since joining the show a decade ago, he’s only danced with three celebs, which he alluded to in an Instagram post shared after Saturday’s pre-recorded launch show aired.

“If I get the pen in the bin, I will get a celeb partner,” he wrote, alongside a clip of himself trying to chuck a marker bin into an oversized dustbin, only for an unidentified hand to intervene.

Neil also joked: “You know I love being part of [Strictly] and honestly after adding two Guinness World Records last year to my 45 titles around the world, I feel like it would be greedy to win the Glitter Ball as well so I wanted to give the others a chance.”

Joining Neil on the bench this year are Aleksandra Isaeva, Cristian Priori and Lethabo Monametsi, all of whom are new additions to Strictly in 2026.

Some of the show’s newbies do have partners this series, with Maddie Ingoldsby dancing with Love Island winner Cach Mercer and Mark Karmalita partnered with Olympian Tabby Stoecker.

Meanwhile, reigning champion Carlos Gu will dance with actor Jaime Winstone in this year’s series, while House Of The Dragon star Bethany Antonia is part of a same-sex partnership, dancing with Nancy Xu.

The full list of celebrities and their professional partners is as follows:

• Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu
• Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby
• Chris Appleton and Amy Dowden
• Dani Dyer and Nikita Kuzmin
• Delta Goodrem and Kai Widdrington
• Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley
• Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu
• John Nellis and Katya Jones
• Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola
• Lawrence Robb and Jowita Przystał
• Melanie Walters and Aljaž Škorjanec
• Dame Sarah Storey and Julian Caillon
• Shaun Wright-Phillips and Alexis Warr
• Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita
• Will Best and Dianne Buswell

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday night at 6.15pm on BBC One.

Work stress is remarkably common in the UK.

Mental Health UK’s Burnout Report found that, in the past year, nearly 91% of us experienced high or extreme levels of pressure, while one in five took time off due to stress.

And a Mind study showed that work is the number one stressor in people’s lives – more than health woes or money issues.

But what’s actually behind those figures? In other words, what exactly about the workplace do so many people find overwhelming?

According to a recent meta-analysis, which looked at over 60 years of research (including 515 studies and almost 788,000 employees), the “most damaging stressor overall” wasn’t actually workload.

When analysing this huge dataset, the study authors split workplace stressors into three groups:

1) Role ambiguity: This happens when employees aren’t given clear direction on what is expected of them in their role, and/or aren’t sure how their work will be evaluated.

2) Role conflict: This refers to workplaces that place incompatible demands, expectations, and/or priorities on employees.

3) Role overload: That basically means being given too much to do, and too few resources with which to complete the tasks. In other words, it’s when employee workload is unreasonably high.

These factors were chosen because they’re a direct result of how work is managed. And they aren’t specific to any one job or industry, so they gave researchers an overview of stressors in all kinds of workplaces.

The study authors compared the prevalence of each of these factors among participants with rates of work satisfaction, burnout, engagement, physical symptoms, how fair employees perceived their workplace to be, commitment, days off, performance, and psychological distress.

Though all three of these factors seemed to make employees more stressed in different ways, overall, role ambiguity tended to tax workers the most.

An ambiguous role was linked to less:

• work engagement,
• commitment,
• performance,
• likelihood of being a ‘team player’,
• job satisfaction.

Speaking to Harvard Business Review, the researchers said this may be because “when employees do not know what they are supposed to do, how their work will be judged, or where their responsibilities begin and end, even routine work can become stressful to navigate”.

Meanwhile, role conflict was associated with more:

• burnout,
• psychological distress,
• unhelpful work behaviour,
• desire to leave.

And role overload correlated with negative emotions and physical symptoms.

If you’re struggling with stress in a way that you cannot manage by yourself, the NHS recommends reaching out to a GP or trying talking therapy.

People who grumble about Christmas goodies being in the shops too early and decorations being flung up before we’ve even had the chance to list our Halloween costumes on Vinted – we’re right there with you.

Or, at least, we are until we hear those twinkling opening notes of Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You. In that moment, all bets are off, and suddenly all we want to do is eat After Eights in our button-up tartan pyjamas.

If that sounds familiar, we’ve got some news we think you’re going to like… the music icon and elusive chanteuse is bringing her Christmastime tour to the UK this year, where you can witness All I Want For Christmas Is You in the flesh – alongside underrated hits like Oh Santa! and Fall In Love At Christmas.

On Monday morning, the chart-topping star announced three festive shows for the UK later this year.

She’ll kick things off on this side of the Atlantic in Birmingham on Friday 27 November, with a show at Utilita Arena.

Following this, she’ll arrive at London’s O2 Arena on Monday 30 November, wrapping things up at Manchester’s Co-Op Live on Wednesday 2 December.

Well, put it this way. Mariah Carey is one of showbiz’s most gloriously extra stars even on an off-day, so sprinkle some Christmas magic into the mix and you’ve got an absolute extravaganza on your hands.

An official press release teases: “The shows will see Mariah celebrate the most wonderful time of the year with a dazzling production bringing together her timeless festive catalogue, global hits and fan favourites – including the song that has become synonymous with Christmas around the world, All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

“The UK shows follow Mariah’s hugely successful Christmas spectaculars around the world and will give British fans the chance to experience the magic live, as one of the most celebrated voices in music brings Christmas to three of the UK’s biggest arenas,” the release concluded.

Mariah’s new tour follows the release of her 16th album Here For It All earlier this year.

Her past Christmas tours have also incorporated non-festive hits from her back catalogue, so if you’re a Mariah purist just hoping to hear the likes of Emotions, We Belong Together or Hero live, you’re probably in luck – as long as you don’t mind a bit of All I Want For Christmas Is You and Oh Santa!, too.

General release tickets for the three shows will go on sale on Friday 25 September at 10am.