Thanks to Eminem, Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster recognised a new word: “stan”, both a noun and a verb. But this is not Marshall’s only strange link to the dictionary world.
Recently, the Merriam-Webster X account decided to illustrate the concept of homophones with a video of Eminem figuring out The D.O.C.’s lyrics.
The clip first went viral as a teaser for The D.O.C., the 2022 biographical documentary. Showing how advanced The D.O.C.’s writing was, Marshall burst into rapping lines from The D.O.C.’s 1989 track “Mind Blowin’”:
(The D.O.C.) is dope I would’ve been down with Rock, but I’d be broke
By the punk, I’m openin’ up my trunk
To reveal, death, livin’ it up, my life is like a story
Yellin’ it, ’cause nobody else is tellin’ it
Checkin’ it, always gettin’ paid ’cause the rap is sort of a twist
Between what you needed and what I mean
What I mean by twist, now you gotta listen
Then he calls on The D.O.C. himself to finally clarify what he was saying in the following line. The legend delivers the line himself, visibly stunned that Eminem can still rap his old song with such ease.
Never a segment is negative ’cause I’m employin’ what you’ve been missin’
The post used the clip to explain homophones: words that sound the same but have different meanings and may be spelled differently. That is exactly the kind of linguistic trick rap often turns into rhythm, punchlines and surprise.
This is remarkable on its own, showing how rap truly functions as a form of modern-day poetry using the full range of tools language gives a writer, homophones included.
Then The D.O.C. added another layer reposting the video on his page with a caption: “Circle is complete. Dictionary built that rhyme. Lol”.
Circle is complete. Dictionary built that rhyme. Lol https://t.co/7HAKsEBU0U
— D.O.C (@WESTCOASTDOC) August 8, 2026