Merriam-Webster Expresses Concern as Dale Earnhardt Jr Proud of Bending the Laws of English

Dale Earnhardt Jr is one of the most active voices of NASCAR. He comes in with a wealth of experience as a driver and analyst, a down-to-earth personality, and as the most popular driver of the last two decades. His insights as an analyst in NBC’s broadcast crew are invaluable. But equally wonderful are his occasional mispronunciations.

Recalling his multiple mix-ups during the broadcast of the Xfinity race at the Nashville Superspeedway, Junior has put out a funny tweet that hints at his silly mistakes in the broadcast box. Even the most authoritative English dictionary on this side of the Atlantic, Merriam-Webster, had to respond to Junior’s tweet.

Merriam-Webster does not have any words for Dale Earnhardt Jr

On June 21st, NBC Sports announced a public statement about the broadcast personnel for the Nashville weekend. The public release described a star-studded lineup for the much-hyped race as it said,

“Two-time Daytona 500 Champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Dale Earnhardt Jr, 21-time Cup Series race winner and “The Mayor” of NASCAR Jeff Burton, and Daytona 500-winning crew chief Steve Letarte will serve as analysts for both the Cup and Xfinity Series races this weekend from Nashville Superspeedway with lead NASCAR race announcer Rick Allen. Marty Snider, Dave Burns and Kim Coon will serve as pit reporters.“

With so many stars joining the line-up, some sort of peer pressure could be expected. It seems the occasion got the better of Dale Jr this time as he minced his words on the broadcast. Later, he made light of the gaffes by joking, “Yesterday I invented at least one new word during the @XfinityRacing broadcast.“

Merriam-Webster’s Twitter handle was quick to latch on to the tweet and showed its concern with an emoji. Hinting at a sarcastic dig at Dale Jr, it added some much-needed banter.

Spire Motorsports‘ part-time driver Carson Hocevar also joined the conversation showing his interest in knowing at least one word from Junior’s creative vocabulary. Although a rare mistake by the two-time Xfinity champion, this incident gave the fans a light moment to smile at.

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Dale Jr’s slip-up evokes laughter; while a Carson Hocevar rumor takes shape

Fans had a field day in the comments section, with several people asking for the details of Junior’s slip-ups. One of the fans highlighted Junior’s mispronunciation, “Don’t forget strategery,” while another added, “Or ‘sperience.'”

A popular handle commented, “I fully expect you to come up with a new word each weekend now.“

Another fan joins the innovation trend and added another word for NASCAR fans to use: “Expanding the NASCABULARY one race at a time. Love it.”

Yet another pointed out a similar slip-up by Jeff Burton, “@JeffBurton just invented one post race. ‘Incidentses.’“

Although most of the comments revolved around Junior’s gaffes, one of the fans noticed a certain pattern in Hocevar’s recent behavior. This led the creation of a conspiracy theory about Hocevar’s possible move to Dale Jr’s team, JR Motorsports. He tweeted, “Carson you and kelly and dale jr sure is talking alot seems like yall are holding back on anouncing you going to the jrm 8 next year everyone is noticing.” 

“What driver are you renaming this year Dale” said another fan implying another mess-up in the future from Earnhardt.

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